China’s Shrinking Population Is Emptying Schools and Reshaping the Education System

Falling birth rates and economic uncertainty are forcing kindergartens, schools, and colleges across China to shut down or merge.

Students read from text books at a primary school in Zhangye city, in Gansu Province, China, on Aug. 28, 2023. STR/AFP via Getty Images

As China’s population declines at an accelerating pace, classrooms across the country are emptying out—with schools shutting down at all levels.

The impact is especially visible in northeastern China, once the country’s industrial heartland. Provinces such as Heilongjiang, Jilin, and Liaoning attracted millions of workers during decades of state-led industrial expansion. However, years of economic stagnation, rising unemployment, and declining marriage and birth rates have dramatically reshaped the region’s demographics.