The population of China's capital, Beijing, declined for the first time in two decades in 2017. The official Xinhua news agency late yesterday said the number of permanent residents reached 21.707 million in 2017 which is  22,000 fewer than  2016. <br />''<br />''<br />''Citing official data, Xinhua said the number of people in the city's six urban districts declined by  3 percent. <br />''<br />''<br />''<span style="color: #222222;">Authorities in Beijing have been making efforts to curb population growth as part of their efforts to ease traffic congestion, resource shortages and house price inflation.</span>