Population Trend in China
China's population growth rate has slowed in the past five years, although its population is still increasing, according to results of a recent survey.
The population totaled 1.20778 billion by October 1, 1995, up 6.54% from 1990, according to the nationwide survey of one percent of China's population.
But the annual growth rate slowed by 0.34 percent over the past five years, compared with the period of 1986-90. According to the survey, the average national birth rate last year was 17.12 per thousand, which means 470,000 fewer
births than in 1994. The 1995 population growth rate was 10.55 per thousand, compared with 14.39 per thousand in 1994. About 51.03 percent of the population is male, the survey showed.
More than 12 million people, from more than 40,000 urban neighborhood communities and rural villages from 30 municipalities, provinces and autonomous regions were surveyed by the State Statistics Bureau.
China's population density is high in the southeast; in fact, 43 percent of the land contains 94 percent of its population. A quarter of the population of China is in the middle and lower reaches of the Yangtze River, including Jiangxi province, and the population density reaches 663 people per square kilometer. Shanghai, China's largest city, has a population density of 2,118 people per square kilometer.
Population growth has brought a series of problems to the country, the reason behind its policy of family planning. The basic content of family planning in China, a China Today article states, is to advocate late marriage and late childbirth. China's marriage law rule marriage age for a man is 22 and 20 for a woman. A baby born to a mother older than 24 is considered a late childbirth. Couples normally only have one child, but the state has adopted a more liberal policy toward minority ethnic groups.
"Family planning in China started in the early 1970s. It enjoys the understanding and support of the population and has achieved results," the article concludes. "China would have 260 million more than the present population if the family planning program had not been adopted. As a result, life is more prosperous. The family planning policy is unshakeable."
Contributed by Fred Bazzoli.