Shanghai's population has surged to more than 20 million people,soaring by 3 million over the past year amid an influx of job seekers from other parts of China.
.Mayor Han Zheng said that creating new jobs for the swelling population was the top priority for China's business capital.
.The influx of people into what already was one of the world's most crowded cities has left roads and subways jammed. Housing prices have soared. The shift has been hastened by a loosening of restrictions that require Chinese to get official permission to move from one place to another. Until recently, the rules made it nearly impossible for rural people to move into cities.
.Shanghai is a magnet for job seekers, with China's highest annual incomes at about $5,000 per person, and economic growth even higher than the national figure of about 8 percent a year.
Shanghai's population of registered residents stood at 13.3 million at the end of 2002, with more than 3 million more temporary resident.