SHANGHAI can accommodate up to 27 million people while its fresh water resources can quench the thirst of 26.7 million people, according to the city’s executive vice mayor.

By the end of last year, Shanghai had more than 24.15 million dwellers but more than 40 percent — or 9.6 million — were migrants. Around 70 percent of the migrants had only junior high school or even lower education.

Many of the migrants live in suburban areas and their numbers are even higher than the locals in the city’s 62 townships, a third of the total, Executive Vice Mayor Tu Guangshao said at a forum on population and development of mega cities yesterday.