Shenzhen has hired 15 experts from throughout the country to map out effective measures in three years to tackle its increasing population problem to accomplish sustainable development in the economy and society.

Shenzhen had the highest population density of major cities in China, Hong Wangquan, director general of the city’s population and family planning bureau, said Friday.

With a growing number of residents, Shenzhen would have no land for development in 15 years and suffer heavy water and air pollution. The number of vehicles would rise 20 percent year on year, aggravating traffic jams, and public service facilities such as schools and hospitals would be overloaded, Hong said.

The ratio of migrant workers to permanent residents in Shenzhen was seriously disproportionate.

From 1992 to 2002, the number of people per square kilometer in the city had risen from 825 to 3,597 with an annual growth rate of 15.32 percent, the highest growth rate of cities in China.

More than 66.38 percent of the city’s population is aged between 20 and 39 while 44.98 percent are women of childbearing age, 10 percent higher than Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Guangzhou.

The average education level of Shenzhen’s laborers is the lowest among major cities, with only 15.21 percent of them having finished technical school education or above.

The migrant population is dominant, reaching 6.7721 million in 2002 and still expanding.

(Shenzhen Daily November 15, 2004)