China census: all eyes on population data with results set to shine spotlight on critical social issues
- After a month-long delay, China will release the results of its once-in-a-decade population census on Tuesday
- The outcome will likely spur debate on long-standing issues like birth restrictions and the retirement age
China will release the outcome of its eagerly anticipated census on Tuesday, with attention focused on the change in the nation’s total population given its potential to shape government social policy and the country’s economic outlook.
National Bureau of Statics (NBS) commissioner Ning Jizhe will head a press conference starting at 10am in Beijing, China’s State Council Information Office confirmed on Sunday, after the initial results of the once-in-a-decade census were delayed from their expected release in early April.
The outcome of the census will cast a spotlight on long-standing issues such as ending restrictions on the number of children a family can have, raising the retirement age, and abolishing the decades-old household registration system, known as hukou, which limits the mobility of Chinese workers, restraining overall economic growth.
Demographers still believe China’s population is likely to begin declining in the next few years, after rising to 1.4 billion in 2019 from 1.39 billion a year earlier.