Anhui natives make up one in three Shanghai migrants

By Tom Qian and Cai Wenjun  |   2008-11-1  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

ONE-THIRD of migrant people in the city come from Anhui Province, latest figures show.

People from Jiangsu, Sichuan, Zhejiang and Jiangxi provinces comprise the second through to the fifth-biggest groups respectively among Shanghai's migrant population, said the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission at a floating-population seminar held in the city on Thursday.

The seminar was organized by the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

Last year, the city was home to about 6.6 million people from other parts of the country and 4.99 million of them stayed here for more than six months.

In addition, another 2 million people live in one part of Shanghai but hold a residential certificate from another part, which means they are also classified as migratory, the commission said.

The city's total permanent residents stood at 18.58 million at the end of last year. Residents include people with a registered residency, or hukou, and those living here for more than six months.

The population density was 2,931 people per square kilometer, making Shanghai the most crowded city in China's mainland, officials said.

From 1990 to 2007, the city's migrant population increased from 1.06 million to 6.6 million. The development of Pudong New Area contributed largely to the jump in the city's floating population.

Local population officials said Shanghai is facing tough challenges on population management and public services such as providing training for migrant workers as well as education and medical services for their children.

By the end of last year, the city had issued temporary residency permits for 4.12 million migrant people. About 3.34 million migrants had been covered by the insurance system, 688,000 migrant workers had received professional training and 385,700 children of migrant workers were studying in local primary and middle schools.

The city offers a cheap natal service for pregnant migrant women at 20 hospitals and a free-contraceptive service to migrant people living in the city for over six months.