Mega city Chengdu bucks trend drawing young Chinese with jobs work life balance and lower costs

CHONGQING - Financial sector worker Fang Wei agreed without hesitation to an offer of a posting by his company to the city of Chengdu two months ago in February.

While his pay would remain the same, he would receive a housing allowance, which he did not get in Beijing where he had been working for the past 10 years.

Besides a lower cost of living, Chengdu also offers a slower pace of life, he told The Straits Times.

“My weekends have become more interesting as I like hiking and Chengdu is near some of China’s best walking routes with gorgeous scenery,” said Mr Fang, who is 37 and single.

His enthusiasm for Chengdu, the capital of south-western Sichuan province, is shared by many Chinese, going by China’s latest population statistics released in March.

Chengdu’s resident population grew by 71,000 over a year in 2024, with the city being the only one out of China’s four most populous cities, each with over 20 million residents, to record an increase.

This growth also comes amid a fall in the country’s population for a third consecutive year in 2024.

Chengdu has a resident population of 21.4 million, behind Chongqing’s 31.9 million, Shanghai’s 24.8 million and Beijing’s 21.8 million.

Chongqing’s population fell 9,600 in a year, while those of Shanghai and Beijing dropped by 71,900 and 26,000, respectively.

Guangzhou, the capital of southern Guangdong province, is China’s fifth most populous city with a resident population of 18.98 million. It grew by 151,000 people from 2023 to 2024.

Chengdu’s population increase comes amid a demographic slowdown in China, which lost the title of the world’s most populous country to India in 2022 owing to its declining fertility rate and strict immigration policies.

China’s total fertility rate is currently below replacement levels. Births rose slightly in