(USA Today) BEIJING (AP) \u2014 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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The census adds data to the world-changing shifts under way in China in the past decade, as economic reforms raise living standards and pull more people off farms into the cities while families get smaller and the population ages.<\/p>\n
China’s rapid aging has fueled worries over how long the country will be able to sustain its high economic growth, as fewer young people are available to work in factories and build the roads that transformed it into the world’s second biggest economy after the United States.<\/p>\n
Continue: http:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/news\/world\/2011-04-28-china-population_n.htm<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" (USA Today) BEIJING (AP) \u2014 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 … Continue reading