The permanent, registered population of east China's commercial hub of Shanghai will reach 18.45 million by the end of the year, according to the municipal population authorities.

This means that Shanghai is expected to be even more populous -- by 1.05 million people -- than Beijing, the national capital.

The Shanghai Municipal Commission of Population and Family Planning has forecast that the number of children born to permanent residents this year would exceed 160,000. Those births were included in the projected total permanent population.

There are also millions of temporary residents. Shanghai registered 6.27 million transients last year, some of whom remained in the city for part of 2007.
Of those transients, 4.67 million remained for more than half a year. These long-term transient residents are equivalent to a fourth of the permanent residents.

The commission said that the older population, aged 60 and above, accounted for 20.1 percent of the total, or 2.75 million.

Shanghai's average life span has reached 80.97 years, similar to levels recorded in developed economies.

(Xinhua News Agency, December 7, 2007)