China’s population to see negative growth before 2025: NHC
A year after the country made a comprehensive plan for demographic structure, China’s National Health Commission ( NHC) released a report on Monday pointing out that women of child- bearing age have a low desire to have children, and the total population will see negative growth during the 14th Five- Year plan ( 2021- 25) period, adding that the population’s development is facing profound change, where an aging society with fewer children will become the new normal.
Experts believe that it is the first time that the Chinese government made such a public announcement, which shows its determination to tackle the population problem, and bringing fertility rates up to the international average must be achieved, and the sooner it starts, the better.
The NHC published an article on Qiushi Journal, a flagship magazine of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Monday, in which it pointed out that factors such as heavy financial burdens, child care and women’s worries about career development have become major obstacles to childbearing.
The growth rate of the total population will slow down significantly, and in the 14th Five- Year Plan period, it will enter a negative growth stage, the report said. The low fertility rate has become the most important risk affecting the balanced development of China’s population.
In addition, it is expected that the country will enter the stage of severe population aging around 2035, when those 60 years old and above will account for over 30 percent of the total population. The contradiction between population and development remains acute in areas with fragile ecosystems and scarce resources.
Chinese demographers predicted that negative population growth will be the dominant trend in the coming years, and improving the overall quality of population and changing economic development plans are vital to address the problem.
There may be fluctuations in the next few years, but the negative growth rate will increase faster and faster, Huang Wenzheng, a demography expert at the Center for China and Globalization said on Monday. “The official announcement of such a trend shows the country’s determination to change the situation.”