The first of four meetings to solicit public opinion on Beijing's 11th Five-Year Plan (2006-2010) was held Saturday, focusing on population issues.

Forty representatives, who had applied to attend after the capital's authorities announced the meetings on July 21, aired their opinions and suggestions during four hours of discussions with senior officials from the municipal commission of development and reform.

There was disagreement over whether administrative measures should be taken to limit the number of people moving to the city, or whether market forces should be used to influence demand for labor in particular sectors.

Beijing's population is 15 million, 4 million of whom do not have permanent residence, and it aims to reduce growth from 2.5 to 1.4 percent for it to total 18 million by 2020. The comments of a policy advisor earlier this year, that thresholds for moving to the city should be raised, provoked widespread debate.

Some attendees said the municipal government should set up a strict "access system" to slow down the influx of laborers, and even that some Beijing residents should be encouraged to move out.

They said living expenses should be increased, slums "cleared up," higher-rent accommodation established and educational requirements for jobs raised.

Others said people should not be divided into "natives" and "non-natives" and said planning and management should be improved to upgrade the quality of all residents.

They said artificial obstacles preventing free labor flow would not only impair the city's long-term development but would also be discriminatory, and that influencing demand for labor by adjusting industrial structures would be more effective, especially if done in cooperation with neighboring Tianjin and Hebei Province.

They added that the municipal government should pay more attention to services for migrant workers and more opportunities given for them to have a say in how they are managed.

(China Daily August 8, 2005)