(BBC News) China’s census shows its population grew to 1.34 billion people by 2010, with a sharp rise in those over 60.
Nearly half of all Chinese now live in cities and people over the age of 60 now account for 13.3% of the population, up nearly 3% since 2000.
But the figures reveal that China’s population is growing more slowly than in the past.
(USA Today) BEIJING (AP) — China’s population is aging rapidly, the government said Thursday, though its leaders are refusing to relax strict family planning controls that are part of the cause.
The results of a national census conducted late last year show the proportion of elderly people in the country of 1.34 billion jumped, while that of young people plunged sharply. The census results, announced Thursday, also show that half the population now lives in cities. Continue reading
China has a problem, a rapidly aging population.
It’s a problem that some Asian countries, including Japan, have already faced, and one that is causing persistent struggles as economies continue to stagnate.
While it doesn’t seem a problem on the scale of the economic difficulties being faced in the United States right now, it could well have much greater consequences for the world in the longer term.
China has created the problem in part, themselves, through its strict one-child policy for families. Its argument has always been since it introduced the draconian policy in 1978 that a large population hinders economic growth. And it’s indicated this week it won’t change the policy. Continue reading
