Beijing, Jan 24 (IANS): Beijing will cap its population at 23 million by 2020, officials said.

In the next five years, Beijing will continue to relocate population from downtown areas to suburban areas, Xinhua news agency quoted Mmayor Wang Anshun as saying.

Permanent population in the downtown areas will drop by 15 percent from 2014, it said.

The population ceilings have been made according to the maximum capacity of resources such as water.

Beijing has seen slower population growth in recent years thanks to the efforts in adjustment of city functions and relocation of relevant industries.

In the last five years, annual growth rate was 2 percent, compared with 5 percent in previous years, statistics show.

In 2015, Beijing had 21.7 million permanent residents. Beijing aims to limit its population within 22 million in 2016.

In the past decades, Beijing has repeatedly failed its population control targets, as people from across the country flocked to the national capital, attracted by its advantages in economic, cultural, educational and medical resources among others.

Increasing population adds pressure on local resources such as water and worsens traffic congestion and environment problems.