In Animal World, a documentary series popular among Chinese audiences since the 1990s, a famous commentary is “Animals tend to move toward habitats with good environment, abundant resources, suitable climate, and ideal breeding conditions, which is true for almost every large-scale animal migration on Earth.”
One could argue that humans are too evolved to be compared to other animal species, but humans, too, are biologically programmed to move toward places with better living conditions, such as places with more job opportunities, higher average incomes, and more rapid development.
Data recently released by China’s provincial-level administrative units reveal new trends in population growth and migration between them. As of April 21, 29 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities on Chinese mainland, all except for Heilongjiang and Xizang, had released their population growth data for 2023. So far, Zhejiang, Guangdong, Hainan and Jiangsu ranked top four in terms of population increase last year.
Population growth is the combined result of natural increase and migration, with natural increase being the difference between births and deaths. Migration into and away from a particular region is seen as an important indicator of the living standards in a region, including the public service system, infrastructure, maternity policies, the job market, economic
