China's population

Is there a crisis brewing in the world's most populated country?
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China confirmed its population grew to 1.412 billion in 2020, from 1.4 billion a year earlier, according to the results of its once-in-a-decade census. But the number of new births fell for the fourth consecutive year in 2020, adding to concerns about China’s ageing population, with the demographic data set to have far-reaching social policy and economic implications.

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News
China Economy
China’s demographic shifts have not yet been reversed by policies designed to increase births in the country. Photo: Shutterstock
China Economy
China’s birth rate incentives not yet moving the needle for weary families
New statistics from China’s health authority show the proportion of second, third children is still dropping, even with numerous measures in place to incentivise births.
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A researcher and government adviser has estimated the country’s annual birth rate to bottom out at around 10 million. Photo: Reuters
China Economy
China’s ‘newborn normal’ expected to hit 10 million as ageing trends continue
A senior government adviser projected China’s birth rate to hold steady at about 10 million per year, a figure that will add to a greater urgency for care services as the broader population ages.
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Pet owners Li Guangyu and Pixie Lim take their dogs for a swim at a pet centre in Shanghai. Li says he does not want the responsibility of having children. As China’s birth rate drops amid soaring childcare costs, more people are choosing careers, pets and partying over marriage and children. Photo: Justin Jin
Long Reads
Photo essay|Children? No thanks – pets and partying are the future in China’s new normal
As China’s birth rate drops amid soaring childcare costs, more millennials are choosing careers, pets and partying over marriage and children, disrupting traditional gender and family dynamics.
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A customer at a supermarket in Renhuai, Guizhou province, on June 9. In taking over grocery shopping and other household chores, “full-time children” are finally having down-to-earth experiences. Photo: Xinhua
Opinion
Opinion|Being ‘full-time children’ is helping China’s ‘chicken babies’ grow up
These mostly only children are taking care of their parents’ needs instead of their own wants, as the priority shifts from passing exams to being of service to family.
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A survey of Hunan province, central China has identified some of the barriers to having babies in the world’s second-largest economy. Photo: AFP
China Economy
‘Serious hurdles’ to motherhood worsen demographic crisis in China
Career pressures and high costs are causing many women to delay or opt out of childbearing, according to survey in Hunan province.
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Global Economy
Middle class in China and US fear losing status
Society
China wedding plunge worries industry professionals
China’s ageing population is affecting the nation’s labour force, impeding middle-class growth, according to some analysts. Photo: AP
Global Economy
US middle class feels it is ‘dying’ while China’s has its own problems
The growth of China’s key middle class is set to be hindered by an ageing population, while in the US, flat wage growth and a drop in university enrolments is hurting the crucial segment of society.
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China is expected to see a record number of retirees in 2023, after seeing its fewest births in six decades last year. Photo: AFP
Economic Indicators
As China’s retirees hit record, retirement age ‘cannot be one-size-fits-all’
More than 28 million people will retire in China this year, and while Beijing has already said it will raise retirement ages, no timetable has been released.
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Studies by multiple organisations in recent years have shown that the level of scientific literacy is several times higher in the United States than in China. Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen
China Economy
China’s hi-tech ambitions under threat from inadequate scientific literacy
Beijing has vowed to rely on a so-called talent dividend to drive innovation and high-quality development, but only 13 per cent of China’s population are viewed as scientifically literate.
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China posted its first population decline since 1961 last year. Photo: EPA-EFE
China Economy
‘New new normal’ warning for China’s economy as births fall and recovery falters
Existing labour force will struggle to match structural changes in industry, prominent economist Cai Fang says, urging further loosening of ‘hukou’ system instead.
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Last year, wedding rdegistrations declined to 6.83 million, marking the ninth consecutive annual decline and reaching the lowest level since the late 1970s. Photo: Xinhua
Economic Indicators
Cash for Chinese couples if bride is 25 or younger as births, marriages plunge
Couples in Changshan county in the eastern Zhejiang province will be given 1,000 yuan (US$138) in cash if the bride is aged 25 or younger after wedding registrations in China fell for the ninth consecutive year in 2022.
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China had 209.78 million people aged over 65 last year, accounting for 14.9 per cent of the population, up from 200 million in 2021, according to official data. Photo: AP
Economic Indicators
China’s silver tsunami to grow with elderly to number 520 million by 2050
Number of citizens aged over 60 in China is expected to expand by an average of 10 million per year over the next decade, adding to concerns over the state pension fund, elderly care facilities and medical services.
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Many cash-strapped potential homebuyers in China are fearful of taking a bath in the turmoil-stricken property sector. Illustration: Davies Christian Surya
China Economy
‘Hang on to cash’: China’s would-be homebuyers opt to wait out housing downturn
Many are calling for a loosening of home- and car-buying restrictions that major cities such as Beijing have imposed for years, to help avoid a hard landing in the property market that would have deep economic implications.
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China Economy
China halts reporting youth unemployment figures
Chinese people are investing more in their health and living longer, leading to greater medical expenses that strain the welfare system while boosting consumption and vitality. Illustration: Davies Christian Surya
China Economy
China’s medical spending grows as population ages but insurance fund risks loom
In difficult economic times, Chinese people have become increasingly reluctant to tap into their savings, but healthcare costs are on the rise as the population gets older and people invest more in their well-being.
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Young Chinese adults look over recruitment information at a job fair in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region earlier this month. Photo: Xinhua
China Economy
Will China’s youth-jobless figures ever look the same after abrupt data halt?
Record-setting joblessness among those aged 16-24 in China had surpassed 21 per cent before authorities decided a recalibration was in order, abruptly halting the release of data in a move deemed ‘counterproductive’.
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The number of Chinese newborns has dropped by around 40 per cent in the past five years, and there are warnings that the decline has expedited. Photo: AFP
China Economy
Will China’s 2023 births plummet to 7 million? Academic warns it’s possible
After demographic alarms went off when Chinese mothers had fewer than 10 million children, how critical will the situation become if only 7 million are born this year?
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Sweden’s Greta Thunberg and other young climate activists of the “Friday for Future” climate strike movement stage an unauthorised demonstration on the sidelines of the 53rd annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 20. Photo: EPA-EFE
Opinion
Opinion|This International Youth Day, mark how young people are making the world better
More highly educated and tech-savvy than previous generations, young people around the world are rising to global challenges with empathy and innovation.
China is struggling to deal with a rapidly ageing population caused by longer life expectancy and a declining fertility rate. Photo: AFP
Economic Indicators
China’s graduates offered free accommodation to help tackle ageing society
An estimated 400 million people in China will be 60 and over by 2035, representing 30 per cent of the population, with a rapidly ageing society one of several demographic issues facing Beijing.
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Society
China’s elderly are heading to retirement, here’s why that’s a problem
Society
Why China’s slacker generation is choosing to “let it rot”
Last year, Chinese mothers gave birth to just 9.56 million babies. Photo: Xinhua
Economic Indicators
China must accept new norm of low births to better respond to crisis: professor
China needs to lower expectations for the recovery of its fertility rate and the immediate effect of policies, according to a Fudan University professor, after deaths outnumbered births for the first time in six decades last year.
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Society
What happens when China’s most-educated can’t find work
For many young couples, financial pressure and an uncertain future have left them content to lead a life without children. Photo: Shutterstock
China Economy
China’s ‘self-aware’ DINK couples, with no kids, weigh on demographic crisis
Many young couples in China are shunning government handouts and incentives to live a life unburdened by children, and the falling birth rate has economic implications that could span decades.
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China Economy
No longer ‘leftover’: China’s women take charge
Opinion
Opinion|China’s aversion to bad news about its economy is counterproductive
Efforts to defend Beijing’s official narrative have intensified this year, as the country’s post-coronavirus economic recovery slowed amid mounting problems.
Zhou Xin
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Opinion|Why China’s housing restrictions will share the same fate as its one-child policy
By cutting home down payments and lowering mortgage rates, China is pumping more money into an ailing sector crucial to local government revenues and national economic soundness.
Zhou Xin
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The View|How social housing could cure what ails China’s property sector and economy
Policymakers have enacted easing measures for China’s property sector, but the impact is likely to be limited and fail to address underlying causes. Looking to the Singapore model of social housing could be the best way to get China back on track.
Winston Mok
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Outside In|Like it or not, migrants rich and poor will shape our economic futures
Whether due to conflict, global warming or simply rich people trying to improve their lot, migration is almost certainly set to grow – and it’s likely to be the only way to replenish falling populations in the rich, developed world.
David Dodwell
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As I see it|What the emergence of ‘full-time children’ tells us about modern China
There is a growing trend for young adults who cannot find a job returning to live with their parents – often doing chores in exchange for an allowance,
Josephine Ma
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Macroscope|Improve women’s workforce participation to lift the global economy
While policies aimed at influencing fertility warrant attention, more urgency should be applied to increasing women’s labour force participation rate. Female education is a vital source of support for long-term economic growth, and that growth feeds into a virtuous cycle that can benefit everyone.
Ecaterina Bigos
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Opinion|Why China should maintain open and inclusive debate about its economy
Open and candid exchanges about the national economy have helped authorities pinpoint problems and find quick solutions, but the silencing of prominent financial writer Wu Xiaobo could put a dent in those lively debates.
Zhou Xin
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Reflections|China’s drop in population is nothing to worry about – just look at history
China’s population fell in 2022 for the first time in decades, and although that may not bode well in the short term, a historical trend of growth despite famines and war should offer hope.
Wee Kek Koon
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Macroscope|Why India is unlikely to threaten China’s agricultural commodity dominance
The media frenzy around India overtaking China as the world’s most populous country has led to questions about what it means for the global agricultural market. The confluence of four distinct factors suggests India’s trade trajectory will diverge and that China’s standing is likely to remain unmatched.
Doug Christie
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Outside In|India: an economic miracle still waiting to happen
India never had a revolution, so its old power structures continue to shackle economic change. This, coupled with a lack of investment in education, health and social welfare, means India will continue to lag behind China
David Dodwell
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The View|What the UN got wrong about China’s and India’s populations
The United Nations’ premature declaration that India has surpassed China as the world’s most populous country calls into question the reliability of its projections. Moreover, the UN’s support of harsh population control policies in the two countries in the past does not reflect well on the organisation.
Yi Fuxian
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Editorial|Quality not quantity the key to tackling demographic shift
China has come to terms with the reality that to translate numbers into real strength in the long term, it needs education and organisation to mobilise its young people.
SCMP Editorial
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