SHENZHEN – When I read the report on the results of Guangdong province’s once-in-a-decade population census released on Saturday, following the release of the national one earlier last week, I was stunned to find that population growth of Shenzhen between 2010 and 2020 exceeded that of the whole Jiangsu province, the coastal region in East China that saw the third largest population growth following Guangdong and Zhejiang provinces.
The number of people living in Shenzhen increased by approximately 7.13 million over the past decade, one million more than that of Jiangsu province, whose population expanded by 6.09 million during the period.
Population increase is seen as an important indicator of a city’s attraction. The large inflow of people into Shenzhen over the past 10 years shows the city’s appeal was on a significant rise.
Young people were especially keen to work and live in Shenzhen. With a population of 17.56 million, Shenzhen’s senior citizens aged 60 years old or above only accounted for 5.36 percent of its total, far below the national average of 18.7 percent.
That partly explains why the southern metropolis, as a young city with only 40 years of history, managed to emerge as one of the most vibrant and innovative cities in the country, generating 2.77 trillion yuan ($430.7 billion) in gross domestic product last year.
While the growth of population with a high proportion of young and well-educated people lays a solid ground for Shenzhen to develop into an international technology and innovation hub, it also places higher requirements on urban management. Sound public services are vital for Shenzhen to maintain and enhance its appeal further.
To accommodate its growing population, one of the most pressing issues Shenzhen needs to address is housing. A 2019 report by Beike Research Institute showed that home ownership rate in Shenzhen was only 23.7 percent, far below Guangzhou (54.9 percent) and Hong Kong (49 percent).
Some people say the city’s skyrocketing home price is leading to the exodus of people, citing the reduction in the number of students enrolled in primary schools and the number of mobile phone users in the city in 2020. Although such evidence is not strong enough to support the allegation, the phenomenon is worth paying attention to.
The good thing is the local government is fully aware of the situation and has stepped up its efforts to ease the problem. Different from previous measures that mainly focused on curbing demand, it is now focusing on increasing the land supply, which many analysts and observers believe remains at the core of the issue.
Of Shenzhen’s total supply of land for construction this year, the government pledged that land for residential use would account for 32.1 percent, the highest in history. The percentage for last year was 24.4 and the previous year 14.
In the government work report delivered at Shenzhen’s annual “two sessions” this month, city mayor Qin Weizhong said a total of 750,000 units of homes will be built in the next five years.
In addition to that, local authorities are also taking big steps to meet growing demand for education and medical care as more people flow into the city, with plans to provide 900,000 new school places for basic education and 20,000 new hospital beds in the next five years.
Shenzhen has been a big beneficiary of demographic dividends since its establishment four decades ago. Its economic miracle is built on the efforts of millions of constructors and talents who came from all across the country. As Shenzhen grows into the country's one of the largest cities, building a sound public services system will enable it to enjoy greater benefits from population dynamics in the coming decades.
An international journalism graduate, Zhou Mo joined China Daily Hong Kong in 2014. Based in Shenzhen, she mainly focuses on reporting the emerging new economy driven by tech innovations such as 5G, big data, artificial intelligence etc., and innovative enterprises in the region. She can be reached at sally@chinadailyhk.com .
