(Yicai) March 11 -- The population of Hefei exceeded 10 million last year, making the capital city of eastern Anhui province the 18th Chinese city and the fourth in the Yangtze River Delta region to achieve such a milestone.

Hefei had a permanent population of 10.002 million in 2024, up by 149,000 from the year before, according to data released yesterday by the Anhui Provincial Bureau of Statistics. In the past three years, the city added about 537,000 permanent residents.

The 17 other Chinese cities with a population of over 10 million include the four first-tier cities -- Beijing, Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen -- Chengdu, Chongqing, and Wuhan. The three others in the Yangtze River Delta region are Shanghai, Hangzhou, and Suzhou.

Hefei's population growth is closely related to industrial development, Lin Fei, a researcher at the Anhui Academy of Social Sciences, told Yicai. In recent years, the city upgraded its original industries while vigorously developing the new energy vehicles, photovoltaic, integrated circuits, and other emerging industries, she added.

According to the Hefei Bureau of Statistics, the city's gross domestic product expanded 6.1 percent to CNY1.35 trillion (USD186.2 billion) last year from the year before.

Hefei's NEV output exceeded 1.35 million units in 2024, as the city became the main manufacturing hub of six leading carmakers, including JAC Motors, BYD, and Nio. Moreover, it is also home to more than 500 auto parts companies.

Last year, Hefei's output value of new display panels and integrated circuits jumped 22 percent and 30 percent, respectively, from 2023, according to the local government work report. Meanwhile, the scale of its photovoltaic and new energy storage industries exceeded CNY180 billion (USD24.8 billion).

As of Dec. 31, Anhui had a permanent population of 61.23 million, basically unchanged from a year earlier, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Editor: Futura Costaglione