City population to outnumber rural folk by 2015
Source: Xinhua |
July 5, 2010, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
CHINA'S urban population is forecast to surpass its rural population for the first time by 2015, with the number of Chinese living in towns and cities set to top 700 million.
Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said the world's most populous country is projected to have 1.39 billion citizens by 2015, up from 1.32 billion at the end of 2008.
The number of people over the age 60 would then pass 200 million, she said.
An average of 8 million people are expected to turn 60 each year, 3.2 million more than the average in the 2006-2010 period.
The population dependency ratio, the proportion of those too young or old to work, would rise for the first time after falling for more than 40 years, while the number of those aged 15-59 would peak and then slowly begin to fall.
Li told the annual conference of the China Population Association in Nanjing at the weekend that the increase in the next five years would be based upon the nation's population momentum, which would begin to decline after 2015.
Chinese government statistics show China's population stood at 1.32 billion at the end of 2008, about 2.5 times the number in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.
The Chinese government adopted a one-child policy in the late 1970s and that helped the country's total population increase less than 40 percent between 1978 and 2008, whereas it had nearly doubled between 1949 and 1978.
However, during the next five years the development of China's population is expected to go through major transitional changes, Li said.
But, in general, she said, China would still retain the advantage of a plentiful labor supply and a relatively low population dependency ratio.
Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said the world's most populous country is projected to have 1.39 billion citizens by 2015, up from 1.32 billion at the end of 2008.
The number of people over the age 60 would then pass 200 million, she said.
An average of 8 million people are expected to turn 60 each year, 3.2 million more than the average in the 2006-2010 period.
The population dependency ratio, the proportion of those too young or old to work, would rise for the first time after falling for more than 40 years, while the number of those aged 15-59 would peak and then slowly begin to fall.
Li told the annual conference of the China Population Association in Nanjing at the weekend that the increase in the next five years would be based upon the nation's population momentum, which would begin to decline after 2015.
Chinese government statistics show China's population stood at 1.32 billion at the end of 2008, about 2.5 times the number in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded.
The Chinese government adopted a one-child policy in the late 1970s and that helped the country's total population increase less than 40 percent between 1978 and 2008, whereas it had nearly doubled between 1949 and 1978.
However, during the next five years the development of China's population is expected to go through major transitional changes, Li said.
But, in general, she said, China would still retain the advantage of a plentiful labor supply and a relatively low population dependency ratio.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
