(Yicai Global) Feb. 21 -- The permanent populations of China's two super cities of Beijing and Shanghai fell in 2018 for a second year in a row, while many provincial capitals such as Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Chengdu saw a rapid increase.

Beijing's permanent population, or people who are resident for more than six months of a year, was 21.54 million in 2018, down 165,000 annually, while the figure was 24.15 million for Shanghai, an annual drop of 30,000, financial media 21st Century Business Herald reported, citing official data.

Pressure of living in megacities is increasing on residents, and these urban areas are also undergoing changes in their industrial structure, resulting in the gradual transfer of permanent population to other cities, according to Ding Jinhong, dean of the School of Social Development at East China Normal University.

Unlike megacities, the permanent population in major provincial capitals is still rising. Published statistics show the number in Guangzhou (Guangdong) increased by 406,000 last year; in Chengdu (Sichuan) by 285,300; in Hangzhou (Zhejiang) by 338,000; and in Hefei (Anhui) by 122,000.

Some provincial capitals located in nationally strategic regions, including the Yangtze River Delta Economic Zone and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, are in the high-speed development phase, according to Yuan Zhiping, professor at the Pearl River Delta Research Center of Sun Yat-sen University.

Some inland capitals such as Chengdu, Wuhan in Hubei and Xi'an in Shaanxi have also issued policies to attract professionals in recent years, meaning their economic development is fast and attractive to young people, he added.

"The competition for human resources among cities will be fierce, which will become an important force driving population movements since China's total population has stopped growing, causing demographic changes in different cities," said Wang Jinying, deputy dean of the School of Economics of Hebei University.