On March 19, Social Sciences Academic Press released a report entitled “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Development Report (2013)”. The report is the first of its kind to investigate and provide statistics on the carrying capacity of Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei in terms of population, earth, water resources, ecological environment and basic infrastructure. Among the findings, Beijing’s 2011 resident population reached 20.186 million with a density of 1230 people within every square kilometre – these statistics indicate that Beijing has already exceeded its land resource capacity. Moreover, Beijing’s water resources can supply 6.67 million people, the equivalent of 40% of the city’s population. Beijing’s per capita water availability is only 119 m³ which is significantly less than the international standard of 1000 m³ per capita hence classifying Beijing as a city with severe water shortages. To alleviate these water shortages, Beijing has had to bring in water supplies from neighboring provinces.

See also: Thirsty? 64% of China’s Urban Groundwater is Heavily Polluted

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Keywords: water shortages Beijing Beijing overpopulated