The transient population in the Chinese capital topped four million in 2003, a rise of nearly 230,000 over 2002, and one in every four people on Beijing's streets are from other Chinese provinces.

A survey released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics (BMBS) shows that migrant workers and business people account for nearly 80 percent of the transient population, an increase of 220,000 over the previous year.

This indicates that most people in this group have found stable work in Beijing.

Most migrant workers are employed in the service sector, especially in the catering industry. Next come stallholders and shopkeepers. Professional skill workers only account for 4.2 percent of the total transient population.

The survey shows that 74.2 percent of this population only have middle school level education, only 10.7 percent have university education, and 1.9 percent are even illiterate.

The transient population is mainly from north China's Hebei Province, central China's Henan Province and east China's Anhui Province.

(Xinhua News Agency February 5, 2004)