BEIJING: After seven years of scraping the strict one-child policy, the county has now entered what is being called an "era of negative population growth." The number was 7.52 per thousand in the previous year and it fall to -6.77 in the current year as released by China's National Bureau of Statistics on Tuesday.
This drop in the number has been attributed to the large number of deaths in the country over the year, which has overtaken the number of births in the same period. This number also reveals the country has logged the highest number of death in decades. It increased from 7.18 per thousand to 7.37 per thousand.
China conducts its census once every decade, similar to India and the last result in 2021 revealed that the growth in China's population is now at the least compared to the past decades. Meaning that the population is shrinking and ageing similar to that of Japan and South Korea. Government reforms and policies over the last few years have also created a decrease in the capable workforce of the country and a growing burden on healthcare and other social security costs of the government.
Although the tread of population control was in play for several years now, the sudden and drastic dip has been attributed to Covid which made things way worse for this Asian country.
Increased unemployment among the youth and lesser income expectations have delayed marriages and postponed or entirely cancelled plans of having children which is a key factor in this negative population increase.
The recall of the zero-Covid policy of China has led to a huge number of infections and a growth in mortality rates in the country over the last month. This could lead to an even lower population increase rate in the coming times.
China introduced the controversial one-child policy in 1979 to curb its population explosion. Although it gradually helped the country to strengthen its economy with an able and cheap workforce, it also increased resentment of the government among the citizens. It also fed a growing patriarchial feeling as boys were favoured over girls in the labour sector. Strict enforcement of the policies included forced abortions and loss of jobs among others.
In 2016 the government finally scrapped this policy, thus allowing couples to have more than one child. Even though the government took a few steps including tax benefits and healthcare to reverse the falling birth rate, it has not been successful yet even though boosting the birth rate was mentioned as a priority by Chinese President Xi Jinping in a meeting in October 2022 and said that his government will "pursue a proactive national strategy" for the same.
With the falling numbers, China faces a serious threat to the workforce of the country. With the ageing of the current working population and the lack of ample youth to replace them in their jobs, the country faces a very serious human resource crisis.
On the other hand, India is poised to make the best out of this problem in China. With a huge population of youth working at different levels to boost its economy, India is ready to replace China as the production hub for various products. Electronic product brands are already looking for setting up production in the next better place in Asia and the latest example for the same is the setting up of an iPhone production plant. India's favourable economic understanding with the West will not only boost these production units but also help in growing trade and a business-friendly environment.
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