Guangdong Province, one of the economic powerhouse in China, has replaced central Henan Province to become the most populous region in the country, Guangdong Provincial Governor Huang Huahua announced Friday.

Guangdong's total population hit 110 million for the first time in its history. The figure includes 79 million registered permanent residents and 31 million migrants who have lived in Guangdong for more than six months, Huang said at the on-going Third Session of the 10th provincial People's Congress.

Elaborating the major reason for the change, Huang said that though Henan and Sichuan are the most populous regions in China, residents from the two provinces have come to Guangdong in recent years looking for jobs.

As the Pearl River Delta is now teemed with temporary migratory workers from elsewhere in China, acknowledged Huang, the provincial government will move some of them to the eastern and western parts of Guangdong and some mountainous areas.

Previously, Henan Province was China's most populous region with a registered permanent population of 94.72 million.

(Xinhua News Agency January 28, 2005)