The population of China: problems and strategy
Peng, P.
China Population Today 9(4): 1-10
1992
PMID: 12344617 Document Number: 323839
Rapid population growth and sustainable socioeconomic development, the wise use of resources and environmental protection are in conflict. China has 22% of the world's population on only 7% of the world's arable land. By the end of 1991 China's population had reached 1,158 billion, an increase of more than 100% since 1949. The census of 1990 indicated that people aged 0-12 represented 27.70% , people aged 15-59 represented 63.17%, people aged 60 and over represented 8.59%, and women of childbearing ages represented 27.10% of the total population. The median age of 25.25 years indicates that China's birth rate will continue to stay high. In the past 10 years, the population of China increased by over 100 million, while arable land decreased at an annual rate of 741,330 acres. The per capita availability of grain in China is only 22% of the amount produced by the US. More than 20 million young people enter the labor market every year, and there are 190 million surplus laborers in rural areas. In the 1950s the total fertility rate of the Chinese women was a high 5.8%; slightly decreasing to 5.68 in the 1960; dropping to 4.01 in the 1970s, to 2.46 in the 1980s and to 2.31 in 1990. The family planning program has helped change people's concepts about marriage and childbearing, and in 1981 the government established the State Family Planning Commission. 40,6% of women got married at age 18 or under in 1950 but only 3.3% did in 1988; the decline was from 39.7% to 1.6% in urban areas and 40.9% to 3.4% in rural areas. Consequently, the mean age at 1st childbirth increased from 20.82 years to 22.18 years during this period. The mean age at 1st delivery increased from 22.58 years to 23.42 years between 1981 and 1989.