China's population

Is there a crisis brewing in the world's most populated country?
+ FOLLOW
Register and follow to be notified the next time content from China's population is published.

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.

Latest News
News
China Economy
Economic issues dominate the Chinese government’s work agenda, with Beijing eager to shore up the headline growth rate and maintain social stability. Photo: AFP
China Economy
Explainer|5 issues, from housing to population, likely to mark Xi’s fact-finding campaign
Economic issues will feature prominently in China’s nationwide fact-finding campaign, including challenges to domestic demand, tech self-reliance, support for private and foreign investors, housing and jobs.
China’s birth rate dropped to a record low last year, with 6.77 births per 1,000 people – the lowest since 1949. Photo: AFP
China Economy
Free high school education dangled for third child as China’s birth rate drops
A city in China’s Shandong province is offering free high school for the third child in a family, as authorities across the country roll out a variety of incentives for couples to have babies amid a record-low birth rate.
6
China’s civil service positions, considered ‘iron bowl’ jobs, are as popular as ever. Illustration: Brian Wang
China Economy
Security over salary: why China’s graduates are vying for civil service jobs
Civil service positions have been increasingly sought after in recent years, particularly among fresh Chinese graduates who are facing fewer opportunities, rising living costs and mounting uncertainties.
22
A widening demographic imbalance – resulting from a low birth rate combined with a rapidly ageing population – continues to plague the world’s second-largest economy, which long benefited from a huge demographic dividend. Photo: AFP
China Economy
Is Beijing being too lax with policy as China loses its ‘demographic dividend’?
A widening population imbalance continues to plague China, but this year’s government work report did not offer much detail about how the dilemma will be addressed, raising concerns.
14
China should “facilitate individuals’ plans for school, childbirth and employment” with a higher education system that supports starting a family, delegate says. Photo: AFP
China Economy
Incentivise China’s degree-seekers to make babies, delegate urges in proposal
China’s universities and colleges are urged to fall in line with national childbirth policy direction, but some demographers warn against encouraging or discouraging students in family planning.
A man carries a child on his shoulders along a street in Beijing on August 2, 2022. Falling births is accelerating population ageing in China, a problem it has grappling with for years. Photo: AFP
Asia
Opinion|China’s demographic woes are neither new nor unique
Much has been made lately of the fall in China’s population, but the real concern is its dwindling workforce, which peaked about a decade ago. Still, in that time China’s economy has continued to grow, putting it alongside places facing similar demographic challenges like Japan and Europe.
11
Lawmakers are considering ways to boost China’s shrinking population after the country recorded its lowest ever birth rate last year. Photo: AFP
Politics
China’s falling birth rate prompts call to allow single women to freeze eggs
Xu Congjian, a member of the top political advisory body, says policies on assisted reproductive technology should be ‘moderately liberalised’.
A Japanese mother and a child play on a cherry blossom tree in Tokyo. Photo: AFP
East Asia
‘Critical situation’: shrinking Japan records fewest births in 123 years
The number of newborns in Japan fell to 799,728 in 2022, down 5.1 per cent year on year, while deaths rose 8.9 per cent to 1.58 million.
China’s elderly dependency ratio, which reflects the population aged 65 years or over to the population aged 15–64, was 20.8 per cent in 2021. Photo: Reuters
China Economy
China’s youth snub ‘hardship’ of caring for elderly as population ages
Elderly care centres are on the frontline of China’s demographic crisis, but many are struggling financially and short of skilled carers, especially for patients with disabilities.
32
China Economy
Ageing in northeast China signals looming pension crisis
In 2021, 18.9 per cent of China’s population was aged 60 or above, and the demographic is expected to expand to 28 per cent in 2040. Photo: EPA-EFE
China Economy
China’s former central bank chief sounds alarm over pension dangers
Zhou Xiaochuan says that as China’s population ages, a crack could easily open up in the already limited pension pool.
14
Deaths outnumbered births as China’s overall population plummeted by 850,000 people to 1.4118 billion in 2022, down from 1.4126 billion a year earlier. Photo: Xinhua
Economy
Population woes as deaths outnumber births in China’s third-biggest region
Four of nine Chinese provinces that have released statistics for 2022 have reported natural population declines, including Henan, highlighting the scale of the country’s demographic crisis.
16
Protesters have taken to the streets in Wuhan over the past week to protest against cuts to medical services. Photo: Twitter
China Economy
‘Benefits worsening even as China gets richer’: healthcare cuts spark protests
Rare protests in Wuhan have underscored the challenge facing China as it comes to terms with an ageing population, shrinking workforce and the long-term financial health of its social security system.
100
Friends and family wave goodbye to travellers at the Hong Kong International Airport. Photo: Robert Ng
Society
Hong Kong population drops for 3rd straight year, losing 60,000 residents
City’s record low 32,500 births marks sixth consecutive year of decline, which Professor Paul Yip from HKU suggests will not be reversed any time soon.
61
A family walks on the street in Shanghai on January 31. China’s government has confirmed the country’s population shrank in 2022 for the first time in 60 years, leading to a flurry of concern about China’s demographic future and what it means for its economy and that of the wider world. Photo: EPA-EFE
Opinion
Opinion|Can China overcome its fertility challenge?
Chinese policymakers must somehow implement policies to revive interest in marriage and reduce the cost of raising children without crashing the economy. But even if they increase the number of births, they will almost certainly be unable to reverse demographic trends that have taken hold across the globe.
5
A parent pushes a child in a pram in Beijing on July 21, 2021. Photo: Getty Images
Opinion
Opinion|Piecemeal efforts to boost China’s birth rate miss the point
A rule change in one Chinese province to allow unmarried women to have children gives them greater choice in principle, but not in practice. It does nothing to address the more fundamental economic and social factors preventing people from having children.
7
Sperm banks in China are calling for donors to help couples conceive. Photo: AFP
Politics
Calling all healthy young men in China: infertile couples need sperm donors
Sperm banks across the country are offering medical checks and money for contributions from qualified applicants.
Private kindergartens are feeling the effects of China’s declining birth rate. Photo: Xinhua
China Economy
‘There are no children’: China’s kindergartens confront population crisis
Lacking state funding and faced with stricter government scrutiny, private kindergartens are on the front line of China’s demographic crisis and many are struggling to survive due to declining enrolments.
19
China’s national birth rate fell to an all-time low last year, and authorities across the country are scrambling to get couples to have more children. Photo: Reuters
China Economy
‘Daringly innovate’ to lower cost of kids, senior Chinese health official urges
Urgent steps must be taken to prevent China’s population from ‘spiralling out of control’, says director of the department overseeing population and family development.
3
China recorded its lowest birth rate last year since the founding of the People’s Republic in 1949, with 6.77 babies born per 1,000 people, according to official data. Photo: AFP
Economy
China adds fertility services to insurance scheme amid record low birth rate
Assisted fertility services, along with labour analgesia to reduce pain during childbirth, will gradually be covered by Chinese state insurance in all provinces as the country looks to boost its dwindling birth rate.
1
In this edition of the Global Impact newsletter, we look at the news that China’s population dropped by 850,000 people last year and what, if anything, Beijing can do. Photo: AP
Economic Indicators
China’s population crisis raises many questions, but does Beijing have the answers?
In this edition of the Global Impact newsletter, we look at the news that China’s population dropped by 850,000 people last year and what, if anything, Beijing can do.
1
A woman and child walk through a gallery at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing on February 1. Three years of Covid-19 have exacerbated the urban-rural divide and worsened income inequality. Photo: AP
Opinion
Opinion|China’s two-speed economy is sapping people’s desire to have children
There are insecurities from limited social welfare, hard decisions for rural migrants about where to raise a family, and the stress of competition and social pressure. In the long term, China needs a more even regional development so it can build public trust and a greater sense of security.
12
The number of people getting married for the first time dropped to 11.6 million last year, almost 700,000 down on the previous year. Photo: AFP
Economic Indicators
‘Career before family’: China’s college students turning backs on marriage
Joint survey finds both male and female college students in China are focused on ‘building a career before starting a family’, with marriage no longer a necessity amid the deepening demographic crisis.
2
Economy
Video: India set to overtake China as the world's most populous country in 2023, UN predicts
Economy
Video: Chinese reluctant to have children as China reports first population fall in 61 years
China’s population fell by about 850,000 people last year, as deaths outnumbered births for the first time in six decades. Photo: AP
Economic Indicators
Free flow of labour ‘vital’ to China’s poorer regions amid population decline
The population of China’s Jiangxi province rose by some 100,000 last year, with around 90 per cent of growth coming from interprovincial migration, with demographers saying the free flow of workers is essential to the health of regional economies.
2
The number of Chinese newly weds dropped to below 12 million last year. Photo: AFP
Trending in China
‘Like going to hell’: more young Chinese are falling out of love with tying the knot
A report about the drop in marriage rates started trending over the Lunar New Year holiday, a time many people visit their families.
5
Opinion
Opinion|China’s deepening demographic crisis calls for more action from Beijing
Current measures like the three-child policy per couple are not enough to increase the country’s flagging fertility rate.
Zhou Xin
27
The View|As workforce shrinks in China, the number of good jobs must grow
China faces many challenges from trade wars to local government debt but now is a chance for national rejuvenation. At the crux is the creation of well-paying, secure jobs and the restoration of business confidence
Winston Mok
Opinion|Chinese homebuyers more wary about pitfalls in the country’s property market
Growing concerns about the market’s slump have made Times of Negative Property Value, a book on the collapse of Japanese housing prices, a must-read for many Chinese during the Lunar New Year holiday.
Zhou Xin
Outside In|Furore over China’s shrinking population is much ado about nothing
The outpouring of concern is simplistic and wrong-headed in many ways: a shrinking population is good for the planet, the fall is merely a rounding error and government efforts to address issues are well under way.
David Dodwell
25
Opinion|China faces a daunting task in boosting the country’s birth rate
Official recognition that China’s population has started to decline is a watershed moment in Chinese history, and will overturn many basic assumptions when analysing the country’s future.
Zhou Xin
4
My Take|2022 to be remembered as the beginning of China’s demographic crisis
The pandemic is a reminder that a society where pensioners make up a large part of the population will always be vulnerable to public health challenges.
Zhou Xin
12
Macroscope|Demographic blessing or disaster? How Asia can reap its youth dividend
Good governance, education, infrastructure and more are needed to integrate a growing working-age population productively into the economy. Asia must also capitalise on its close integration in regional supply chains and free-trade agreements.
Sylvia Sheng
1
Opinion|Why China faces a long struggle to arrest its population decline
After four decades of birth control, China has finally woken up and realised that it may have gone too far in implementing the one -child policy, but Beijing’s U-turn in population policy has come too late.
Zhou Xin
4
The View|How India and China can take their human capital to the next level
Education may be holding India back from emulating China’s economic trajectory, with India producing far fewer skilled workers than China. Yet while India can learn from China’s success in education, China still has strides to make in critical thinking and allowing a diversity of ideas.
Winston Mok
3
Editorial|Population push by Beijing calls for shift in attitudes of society
State Council proposals to reverse a declining population through a series of incentives are only the beginning and require the support of all.
SCMP Editorial
2
My Take|China’s population decline threatens US … seriously?
Demography is not destiny, so it’s meaningless to use population decline as a predictor of China’s future unless you can link it to productivity, which depends greatly on technological progress, something that is inherently impossible to forecast.
SCMP ColumnistAlex Lo
19
Opinion|China’s feeble GDP growth just tip of the iceberg for zero-Covid-19 disruptions
Continued implementation of quarantines and other strict coronavirus control measures has cast a shadow over how well China’s population can cope in the future.
Zhou Xin
3
LOADING
Unfollowed
View all