(Yicai Global) Oct. 11 -- The population of China’s eastern regions, where many major cities and manufacturing hubs are based, has grown rapidly over the past ten years due to population inflows from other parts of the country, according to the latest data.

The number of people living in eastern parts of China has swelled by 2.1 percentage points from 2010, according to a report released by the National Bureau of Statistics yesterday. In particular, the population of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area has increased by 35 percent and that of the Yangtze River Delta, which encompasses Shanghai and the surrounding area, by 12 percent.

In recent years, population flows have mainly been in two directions, Niu Fengrui, researcher at the Center for Urban Development and Environmental Research of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai Global. People in the country’s central, northwest and northeast regions are moving to the southeast coast, and, within provinces, people are shifting from smaller cities and the rural areas to the capital.

There were 124.8 million people living in provinces that were not their home provinces in 2020, an increase of 45.4 percent from 2010, according to data from the seventh national census.

Guangdong province in southern China has the most migrants at nearly 30 million. Some 8.1 million people from other provinces have moved in over the past decade. While Zhejiang province in the southeast has the second-largest number at 16.1 million people, accounting for 25.1 percent of its population.

The vast majority of the migrants, around 82 percent, come looking for work, according to the Zhejiang Bureau of Statistics. Many are young people, attracted by the economic vitality and future potential of the region and this has slowed the aging of Zhejiang’s population.

However, there are also an increasing number of people moving closer to home. Since 2008, many coastal industries have shifted inland due to the high rents and labor costs. As a result, some people who moved to the coastal cities are returning to their home provinces, and are choosing to live in the provincial capital or other major metropolises.

Relocating to nearby cities is a sensible choice for many people as they remain closer to home, which makes it easier to take care of their children and elderly parents, Niu said. There are also fewer costs involved.

Municipalities in the central and western parts of the country, such as Wuhan in Hubei province, Chengdu in Sichuan province, the municipality of Chongqing in southwest China, Zhengzhou in Henan province, Changsha in Hunan province, Hefei in Anhui province and Xi'an in Shaanxi province are attracting large population inflows.

Editor: Kim Taylor