China is expected to produce 221 megacities and an urban population of about 1 billion by 2025, a leading international consultancy firm has predicted in a report.

Of the megacities, 10 would have a population of more than 10 million each, including Beijing, Shanghai, Chongqing, Shenzhen, Tianjin, Chengdu, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Hangzhou and Xi'an, according to a report released by the McKinsey Global Institute, the economics research arm of McKinsey & Company.

Currently, there are only about 35 megacities in Europe, Alex Peng, a partner at McKinsey's Beijing office, quoted the report as saying at a symposium in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province.

With the fast economic development, China has seen steady yet rapid urbanization in recent years, Peng said.

Despite breakneck economic growth, grand office buildings and nascent transport networks in the big cities, air pollution, traffic jams and skyrocketing housing prices are eroding the contentment of urban residents.