Authorities of Shanghai say the population of the rapidly growing city in the east of China will jump sharply by 17 percent over the next 10 years, Xinhua news agency reported.
The city, which boasted a population of 19.2 million at the end of 2009, will have 21.4 million residents by 2015 and some 22.5 million in 2020, the agency said quoting data from the Shanghai Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission.
The commission said that "the rapid population growth would add to the city's challenges as it was already struggling with overcrowding and overloaded infrastructure."
Xinhua also said quoting Director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission Li Bin, that China's population will reach 1.39 billion by the year of 2015, and for the first time the urban population will exceed the rural.
MOSCOW, July 8 (RIA Novosti)
