Four county-level cities have entered major cities, with a net population inflow of over 500000 in nine counties: nearly one million in Yiwu

The net inflow of population refers to the difference between the permanent population and the registered residence population. If the permanent population is larger than the registered residence population, it means that the urban population is in a net inflow, otherwise it is a net outflow. In China, some economically developed counties have also attracted a large number of migrants, with a relatively large net inflow of population.

So, which counties have a higher net inflow of population? According to statistical bulletins and public data from various regions, First Financial reporters have found that the net inflow of population in 9 counties in China has exceeded 500000 people, namely Yiwu, Kunshan, Jinjiang, Cixi, Changshu, Changsha County, Xinzheng, Zhangjiagang, and Jiangyin. Seven of them come from the eastern coast, and two come from the central region.

It should be noted that the net inflow of population reflects the stock over the years, not the changes in a single year. Secondly, a part of the registered residence population of a place always flows out. Even in a developed big city like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, there will be a part of the registered residence population in other places. At the county level, in some economically developed counties, there is a strong commercial atmosphere and a large number of people going out for business. The data on the number of permanent residents from outside will be significantly greater than the net inflow of population.

In addition, in recent years, with the opening of the threshold for settlement, many of the registered residence in these county-level cities are settled in recent years. Therefore, in general, the population inflow in these places is more than the net inflow data.

Yiwu has a net inflow of nearly one million people

4 county-level cities developing into big cities

The data shows that among the nine counties with a net inflow of over 500000 people, Yiwu in Zhejiang, Kunshan in Jiangsu, and Jinjiang in Fujian rank in the top three. All three county-level cities have a net inflow of over 800000 people. Among them, the net inflow of population in Yiwu reached 997200 people, close to one million, ranking first among major counties.

The data shows that by the end of 2022, the registered residence of Yiwu will be 890820, an increase of 19164 over the previous year. By the end of 2022, the permanent population of Yiwu will be 1.888 million, an increase of 3000 over the previous year, and the urbanization will reach 80.7%.

As the "capital of small commodities in the world," Yiwu is bustling with merchants. According to Tang Hairu, Vice Chairman of the Expert Committee of the Hangzhou Planning Committee, Yiwu is the capital of small commodities with a complete range of products and a wide coverage. As a result, there are more individual businesses and enterprises in Yiwu. In recent years, Yiwu has actively transitioned towards e-commerce, with a prominent number of express deliveries and direct e-commerce broadcasts.

According to Tang Hairu's analysis, in the industrial structure of Yiwu, the tertiary industry such as e-commerce is the main sector. Although the added value formed is not as much as in the industrial dominated areas, it has driven a large number of employed people and a high income level. Data shows that in 2022, the per capita disposable income of all residents in Yiwu City was 78215 yuan, an increase of 1.0%, surpassing the three major first tier cities of Beijing, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou, second only to Shanghai.

After Yiwu, the net population inflow of Kunshan also exceeded 900000 people, reaching 921300 people, ranking second. Kunshan is known as the "strongest county in China". Data shows that Kunshan achieved a regional GDP of 500.67 billion yuan in 2022, a year-on-year increase of 1.8% at constant prices, becoming the first county-level city in China to exceed 500 billion yuan in GDP.

In 2022, Kunshan achieved a total industrial output value of 1081.098 billion yuan, an increase of 4.1% compared to the previous year. At the end of the year, there was one billion level IT industry cluster and 12 billion level industry clusters. There are 113 large industrial enterprises, 303 medium-sized industrial enterprises, and 1083 enterprises with an output value exceeding 100 million yuan, including 138 enterprises with an output value of over 1 billion yuan and 13 enterprises with an output value of over 10 billion yuan. At the end of the year, there were 2744 effective high-tech enterprises, far ahead in the county.

The third largest city is Jinjiang, with a net inflow of 826900 people. Since 1994, Jinjiang has been leading the county-level economy in Fujian for 29 consecutive years. Ding Changfa, Associate Professor of the Department of Economics at Xiamen University, analyzed the First Financial Economics and found that the shoe and clothing, textile, building materials, and food industries in Jinjiang are very prominent, attracting a large number of migrant workers.

Taking the footwear industry as an example, a series of well-known sports brands such as ANTA, 361 °, and TEBU have emerged in the local area, and Jinjiang is also known as the "Chinese Footwear Capital".

The net inflow of population in Cixi, Zhejiang also reached 796100 people, close to 800000, ranking fourth in the county. Cixi is the largest small home appliance industry cluster in China and is known as the "Capital of Small Home Appliances" in China. Among them, the production of multiple sub varieties such as electric irons, hair dryers, and electric heaters ranks first in the world.

According to the law of population mobility, the newly added inflow of economically developed population mainly flows to urban areas. Therefore, a large influx of foreign population has also led to the gradual development of many county-level cities into large and medium-sized cities.

According to the 2020 China Population Census by County Data, there are four county-level cities with urban populations exceeding 1 million, ranking among the major cities, all located in developed areas along the southeast coast, namely Kunshan, Yiwu, Cixi, and Jinjiang. The net population inflow scale of these four county-level cities has exceeded 700000 people.

Two counties in the central region were shortlisted

After Cixi, the net inflow of Changshu population from southern Jiangsu reached 590700, nearly 600000 people, ranking fifth. Last year, the three pillar industries in Changshu achieved an output value of 266.034 billion yuan, an increase of 3.7% compared to the previous year, accounting for 54.9% of the total output value of industrial enterprises above designated size. Among them, the output value of the equipment manufacturing industry was 115.082 billion yuan, an increase of 5.1%; The output value of the automotive parts industry was 999.61 billion yuan, an increase of 6.7%; The output value of the textile and clothing industry was 50.992 billion yuan, a decrease of 4.4%.

After Changshu, the net population inflow of Changsha County in Hunan, Xinzheng in Henan, Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu, and Jiangyin all exceeded 500000, ranking sixth to ninth respectively. Among them, Zhangjiagang and Jiangyin both come from the southern Jiangsu region. Adding Kunshan and Changshu, these four county-level cities can be called the "Four Little Dragons of Southern Jiangsu". The GDP of these four cities has long been among the top five in the county, and the net inflow of population has also exceeded 500000.

Changsha County and Xinzheng are two counties in the central region. Among them, the net inflow of population in Changsha County reached 590700 people, close to 600000. Changsha County, also known as "Xingsha", enjoys the reputation of "Hunan industry looks at Changsha, Changsha industry looks at Xingsha" according to the website of the Changsha County Government. Among them, the construction machinery industry has become a world-class industrial cluster, and the output value of the automotive and parts industry has exceeded 100 billion yuan. Sany Heavy Industry has entered the Fortune Global 500, while Shanhe Intelligent and China Railway Construction Heavy Industry have entered the Fortune Global Engineering Machinery Top 50. 40 Fortune Global 500 companies, including Volkswagen, Bosch, and Mitsubishi, have rushed to land. Numerous national level platforms provide fertile ground for industrial development, including the national level Changsha Economic and Technological Development Zone, which has 60.91% of the implementation area of the China Free Trade Pilot Zone.

The net inflow of population in Xinzheng also exceeded 500000. So why do Changsha County and Xinzheng, two central counties, have the highest net inflow of population? According to Niu Fengrui, the director of the Small and Medium sized City Research Institute, Changsha County and Xinzheng City are located very close to the central urban area, and are themselves part of the central city. They are the receiving and gathering places for industries in provincial capital cities, forming a good division of labor and cooperation with the central urban area of provincial capital cities. In the process of expanding the central urban area of the provincial capital city, it gradually integrates with the central urban area.