Tianjin must cap its population growth, says the city's urban planning scheme, which has been approved by the State Council.

The North China port should also bring the use of land for development under control, says the document.

By 2020, Tianjin's population should be capped under 13.5 million, while the amount of land used for non-agricultural purposes should not exceed 1,450 square kilometres, according to the scheme, published yesterday on www.gov.cn, the government's official website.

The scheme's ultimate goal is to turn Tianjin into an environmentally sound and technologically advanced international port, and an economic hub for North China.

"In light of the city's constraints in resources and environment, Tianjin must restrain from blind expansion," the State Council said in a reply to the city's proposal for urban planning until 2020.

Instead the city must economize in water, energy and land use, and must take all possible means to protect arable land and curb erosion and desertification, the cabinet said.

Tianjin stretches 11,900 square kilometres, and its population grew by 0.143 percent last year to reach 10.43 million. The city has now entered a low growth period in terms of population, according to the Tianjin Bureau of Statistics.

The document singles out the Binhai New Area (BNA), or the new coastal area, which was officially designated by the State Council as an experimental zone for comprehensive reform two months ago.

It says the BNA, covering an area of 2,270 square kilometres and containing a population of 1.4 million, should be developed into a gateway to North China, a modern manufacturing and research base and international shipping and logistics centre, as well as a pleasant place to live.

(China Daily August 9, 2006)