Various Chinese reports have confirmed a growing concern about the long-term effect of falling birthrates. This is seen as a liability for future economic prosperity among other concerns.
Tsinghua University Research Center for Contemporary China Director Professor Hu Angang, said on August 11, simply reducing population is not necessarily good for China. The government needs to adjust its birth control policy.
Professor Hu also said after 2030, China’s population will change dramatically. China’s labor force will shrink, putting China at a competitive disadvantage with India. From this standpoint, China should draw a line and end its negative population growth.
Professor Gu Baochang from the Population and Development Studies Center at the Renmin University of China forecasts that in 25 years, China will reach a zero growth rate and face a negative growth rate thereafter.
Aging and Fewer Women
China’s state-run media, China News Service, reported that although China was concerned about its rapidly increasing population not too long ago, it is expected that China will face an aging society in the near future.
It is reported that China’s over-population was relatively reduced recently. In the meantime, the problems of an aging population and the unbalanced gender ratio are surfacing. It is estimated that by 2020, one-fifth of its population will be over 60 years old.
The Chinese Academy of Social Science Press recently published the book “China’s Population and Economic Development in the 21st Century”. The book pointed out that China should gradually loosen up its birth control policy during the years 2006 to 2010 to prevent the acceleration of a declining birth rate and an aging population.
Friends Read Free