Beijing's population exceeds 21 million

The population of permanent residents in Beijing exceeded 21 million by the end of 2013, the municipal bureau of statistics said Wednesday.

The figure is based on a sample survey of population last year. It showed that the population of Beijing's permanent residents reached 21.15 million, 455,000 more than that of 2012.

According to the survey, 13.12 million people in the capital held a Beijing hukou -- or Chinese household registration, 62 percent of the total population.

The additional 8.03 million inhabitants are migrant workers who had been living in the city for more than half a year and who are therefore classified as permanent residents.

The survey also demonstrated that Chaoyang District has the biggest population with 3.84 million residents. Haidian ranks second.