On April 9, the Guangzhou Municipal Statistics Bureau announced that in 2006 Guangzhou's registered population totaled 7,607,200, with the growth rate down 0.38 percentage point from 1.74% in 2005. On average, there were 1,627 residents per square kilometer in the urban districts, with Yuexiu District having the highest population density at 34,067 persons per square meter.

According to Peng Peng, head of the Scientific Research Department at the Guangzhou Academy of Social Sciences, the slowing growth rate can be attributed to the city's measures for controlling the registered population. Nevertheless, the population without permanent household registration in Guangzhou has kept expanding at a fast pace. Overall, the city's population is still on the rise, approaching the "critical point" of 15 to 18 million people.

Mr. Peng said that part of the urban population can be transferred to the few central townships which Guangzhou is actively developing as satellite cities; thus, a population of 15 million will be no cause for alarm.

Editor: Yan