(WANG QUANCHAO)

A platform at Guomao Station on Subway Line 10 in Beijing is packed with passengers.

Beijing's population reached 20.69 million at the end of 2012, an annual growth of 2.5 percent, according to data released by the Beijing Bureau of Statistics on January 20.

Permanent residents in the Chinese capital increased by 507,000 last year.

The bureau said that Beijing has about 7.74 million non-native residents who have settled down for over half a year. Their population had increased by 316,000 since the end of 2011.