Around 90 Chinese cities see urban population top one million

Nearly 90 Chinese cities saw their urban population top one million, Chinese financial news outlet Yicai reported Monday.

A total of 89 cities had an urban population of more than 1 million people, an increase of four from a year earlier. The four cities are Zunyi, Taian, Zhangjiakou and Chifeng.

Twenty-seven cities, mainly first- and second-tier cities such as municipalities and provincial capital cities, had an urban population of more than 3 million people.

Yicai said that second-tier cities Ningbo, Shijiazhuang and Nanchang, with an urban population of close to 3 million people, are likely reach the threshold in a few years.

Twelve cities with an urban population of more than 5 million are Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chongqing, Wuhan, Chengdu, Nanjing, Zhengzhou, Hangzhou and Shenyang.

It's predicted that more cities will join the rank in the future, among which will be Harbin, Qingdao and Xi'an, with an urban population of more than 4 million, Yicai added.

So far, China has four mega-cities with an urban population of more than 10 million, namely Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

China, with a total population of almost 1.4 billion, will have 10 or even more mega-cities in the future, Niu Fengrui, a researcher with the Institute for Urban and Environmental Studies under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai.