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Background

Sidney Leng

Is China’s population a cause for concern?

Beijing began releasing demographic data in May from its seventh national population census, and the figures show that Chinese mothers gave birth to just 12 million babies in 2020 – the lowest total since 1961. Photo: AFP

Beijing began releasing demographic data in May from its 2020 population census, and China’s working-age population is expected to decline rapidly in the coming years. Photo: AFP

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China’s overall population continued to grow in 2020, but Chinese mothers gave birth to just 12 million babies – the lowest total since 11.87 million in 1961 amid the Great Chinese Famine.


Explainer

Cissy Zhou

China population: infertility rate rising faster than expected, new reproductive study shows

China saw its infertility rate rise to 18 per cent in 2020, according to a recent study. Photo: Shutterstock

China saw its infertility rate rise to 18 per cent in 2020, according to a recent study. Photo: AFP

Economic Indicators

Social Policy

One out of every 5.6 couples of childbearing age in China is unable to make a baby despite frequently having unprotected sex for at least a year.


Pearl Liu

Three-child policy: China’s median home size may have to grow by a third to 120 square metres to house larger families

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Money & Wealth

The availability and affordability of suitable housing are often cited as the biggest hurdle for many couples in China’s major urban centres, as they contemplate upsizing their households.


Mandy Zuo

China’s population growth hit by ‘fewer babies’ and childless households which pose risks for the future, experts say

Couples in China are delaying or completely avoiding having children owing to the cost of child-rearing, a more mobile workforce and a desire for personal freedom. Photo: AFP

A photo taken on March 21, 2013 shows a woman with one of her grandchildren in their home in Chengde, Hebei province, a town where inhabitants are not bound by the 'one-child' birth-control policy enforced in other parts of China. Critics of China's one-child policy have long pointed to self-imposed birth limits in Chengde and elsewhere to argue that the policy is unnecessary for population control and even harmful, having given rise to rights abuses and demographic imbalances. The dismantling last week of China's family planning commission, whose hundreds of thousands of personnel enforce the limit, gave critics faint hope that change might be in the works. Parents in the town of Chengde are allowed to have two children although many opt for just one anyway, citing the financial implications of having more. AFP PHOTO / Ed Jones (Photo by Ed Jones / AFP)CREDIT: AFP

A woman pushes a baby on a stroller along an alley in Beijing on May 12, 2021. (Photo by GREG BAKER / AFP)CREDIT: AFP

A newborn babies lie on a hospital bed in Beijing on December 1, 2008. The Chinese government has insisted extensive measures have been taken to ensure melamine is no longer in China's dairy supply after admitting that a total of 294,000 children had fallen ill from consuming dairy products tainted with the industrial chemical, normally used to make plastics, after it emerged in September that melamine had been routinely mixed into Chinese milk and dairy products to give  the impression of having a higher protein content. The scandal quickly became a global problem, with Chinese dairy products around the world recalled or banned after they were found to be tainted with the industrial chemical. AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo by FREDERIC J. BROWN / AFP)CREDIT: AFP

Gender & Diversity

Social Welfare

The growth in no-kids households, mobile workers and smaller families has allowed couples greater freedom but poses challenges for a country with an ageing population and a falling birth rate.


Qu Hongbin

Yes, China’s workforce is shrinking – but it’s also much smarter and more productive than before

Workers check rolls of sheet aluminium at a factory in Wuhan, in central Hubei province, on May 8. China’s 14th five-year plan emphasises the development of the manufacturing industry, which can help prompt more migrant workers to shift to higher productivity jobs in that sector. Photo: AFP

Comment

In all, these better-educated and more productive workers will be more than enough to offset the negative impact of an ageing population and shrinking labour force.


Column

Paul Yip

Why China’s dire demographic news signals need to adapt, focus on productivity

Illustration: Craig Stephens

What really matters for dealing with an ageing society and a shrinking workforce is to make economic activities more robust. China should also work to build up an attractive living environment to improve people’s quality of life, instead of focusing on quantity.


Frank Tang

China population: ‘fully open childbirth’ policy needed as calls increase for census response

China’s census confirmed that while the overall population continued to grow last year 1.412 billion in 2020, the number of new births fell to a 60-year low of 12 million in 2020. Photo: Reuters

China’s census confirmed that while the overall population continued to grow last year 1.412 billion in 2020, the number of new births fell to a 60-year low of 12 million in 2020. Photo: AFP

China’s banking regulator has already announced it will pilot private pension products from June in response to the results of the population census, but changes to family planning policies have yet to emerge.


David Dodwell

Why China’s future remains bright regardless of shrinking population fears

People walk to the Bund during Labour Day in Shanghai on May 1. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s future is linked to rising productivity and more skill and technology intensity. Urbanisation, better education and job opportunities for women and improved productivity will have greater influence than raw population figures.


Outside In

Amanda Lee

China population: state pension fund under pressure from ‘unprecedented challenge’ as nation gets older

The number of elderly people aged 65 and over in China rose to 191 million last year from 119 million in 2010. Photo: EPA-EFE

The number of elderly people aged 65 and over in China rose to 191 million last year from 119 million in 2010. Photo: AFP

Politics

China’s working age population fell last year, while the nation’s elderly population grew, adding to the pressure on the state pension fund.


SCMP Editorial

Census figures add up to a huge challenge for China’s policymakers

Shoppers check out offerings from Beijing souvenir shops last October. China’s working-age population dropped to 63 per cent in 2020 from 70 per cent a decade earlier, according to the latest census figures. Photo: Bloomberg

Data may not have been as bleak as some predicted with the country having more people today than in 2010, but the time is fast approaching when that will not be the case and Beijing needs to ensure a fine balance between policy, development and resource demand.


Editorial

He Huifeng

China’s population outlook worrying as young people baulk at high cost of having kids

Many believe that there is a general consensus among China’s millennials and Generation Z that having children will impose a strong financial burden under the country’s current public welfare conditions. Illustration: Brian Wang

Fiscal & Monetary Policy

China’s ageing population is the least of concerns for Gen Z and millennials who can barely afford to make ends meet, much less have children.


China’s census: what is it and why is the latest population survey so important?

China conducted its seventh national population census in November and December 2020, where a huge range of personal and household information, including the age, education, occupation, marital and migration status of people living in the world’s most populous nation was gathered. Photo: Getty Images

China conducted its seventh national population census in November and December 2020, where a huge range of personal and household information, including the age, education, occupation, marital and migration status of people living in the world’s most populous nation was gathered. Photo: AFP

China’s national population census is conducted once a decade and is crucial to future economic and social planning, with the seventh conducted in November and December 2020 and released in May 2021. 


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China-India Relations

China’s middle class is stressed. Can its growing mental health industry lend a helping hand?

Illustration: Lau Ka-kuen

Numerous stressors are causing China’s middle class to seek professional help, leading to rapid growth in the mental health industry – but will that be enough to soothe their nerves?


Kamala Thiagarajan

No jobs, no hope: how India and China are grappling with youth crises

Job seekers gather at a mega job fair on February 27, organised by the Karnataka state government in Bengaluru, India, where 600 companies are looking to hire at least 50,000 people. Photo: EPA-EFE

Indian workers line up to submit registration forms for jobs in Israel during a recruitment drive at the Industrial Training Institute in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, on January 25. Photo: AFP

Asia Opinion

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India’s unemployment time bomb disproportionately affects young people, with many seeking work in war zones and as illegal immigrants. In China, as automation quickly replaces human labour, frustrated youth struggle to find meaningful work or are stuck in toxic working environments.


China’s private pension push marred by weak financial literacy, as ‘people still have no idea’

China’s private pension scheme is falling short of expectations due to low participation. Photo: EPA-EFE

China’s private pension scheme is falling short of expectations due to low participation. Photo: AFP

After a stretch of trials in select Chinese cities, there is rising urgency to rapidly expand use of the underperforming retirement accounts as demographic challenges mount.


Jane Cai

China lays out 3-year plan to build digital workforce and overcome shortfall of workers needed to win tech race

The Chinese government has launched a multi-pronged approach to filling its advanced tech workforce needs, including directing universities, industry and government bodies on how to recruit and keep digital talent. Photo: Xinhua

As well as programmes in industry and education, local governments are encouraged to provide perks, including incentives in housing, start-up investment and schooling and jobs for the family of digital workers.
