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Jiaxing's population grew by 105,000 in 2021, ranking first among the prefecture-level cities in China in terms of population growth, local media reported on July 31.

The country's net population increase in 2021 was only 480,000.

Jiaxing in northern Zhejiang province was the only prefecture-level city with a population increase of over 100,000 in 2021.

In the past year, 10 prefecture-level cities saw their permanent populations increase by more than 50,000. Jiaxing, Suzhou and Foshan were the top three.

These 10 cities are all located in the eastern area and are distributed throughout five provinces, including Guangdong, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Fujian and Hebei.

In developed areas, industrial agglomeration is the basic driving force for population growth, according to Niu Fengrui, a researcher at the Urban Development and Environment Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The population increase in Jiaxing is closely related to the further integration of the Yangtze River Delta.

Located between Shanghai and Hangzhou, Jiaxing is the first city to benefit from Shanghai's economic development. And Jiaxing's own economic development has reached a new stage, bringing more people into the city.