Falls in their permanent populations timely turning point for metropolises

THE BEIJING AND SHANGHAI governments announced last week that, for the first time since 1978, the permanent resident population of the two metropolises fell last year, Southern Metropolis Daily comments:

Though the decrease is slight, it is believed to be a turning point. Which is not necessarily a bad thing.

Currently, Beijing's permanent resident population is 21.71 million, and Shanghai's 24.18 million, leaving almost no space for further increase considering their proposed permanent resident population ceilings.