By: Xueyan Hu

 With just over 1.3 billion people (1,330,044,605 as of mid-2008), China is the world's largest and most populous country.  As the world's population is approximately 6.7 billion, China represents a full 20% of the world's population so one in every five people on the planet is a resident of China.

 Moreover, the population density is high, with 136 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. The eastern coastal areas are densely populated, with more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km.

 When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the population numbered million. Owing to China's stable society, rapid development of production, improvement in medical and health conditions, insufficient awareness of the importance of population growth control and shortage of experience, the population grew rapidly, reaching million in Since the 1970s, China has implemented a policy of family planning to control population growth which brought about the start of a decline in the birth rate. By 2005, the annual rate of population growth had decreased to per thousand. Now China's population reproduction picture has basically been turned around into one characterized by low rates of birth, death and increase.

 China's newborn gender ratio of girls to boys was 100:117.  According to the fifth national census ， the number of boys under 9 years old was million more than that of girls.

 The number of elderly people aged 65 or above will account for 11.8 percent of the country's whole population in And the figure will rise to 25 percent in the mid-21st century.

China's urban population exceeds 600 million China's urban population surged to 607 million with an urbanization rate of 45.7 percent at the end of The urban population had increased by 148 million since 2000, almost level with the rural population in the world's most populous nation with 1.3 billion people, according to Shan Jingjing of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS).

China's urban population exceeds 600 million China's urban population

China's rural population to halve in 30 years China's rural population will shrink from the current 900 million to 400 million in 30 years, a top Chinese rural economist estimated. Han Jun, director of the Research Department of Rural Economy with the State Council's Development Research Center, a top think tank, said Wednesday farmers will increasingly move to cities. "This figure is drawn from our recent studies, based on the current rate of urbanization, as well as the hosting capacity of cities," he said. As the world's most populous country, China boasts a population of 1.3 billion. The United Nations estimated in 2003 China's population will peak in 2030 at 1.45 billion. On the recent labor shortages in China's coastal export hubs, Han said the phenomenon doesn't mean farmers are no longer seeking jobs in the cities.

China's rural population to halve in 30 years China's rural population

China expected to see zero population growth by 2030: expert China, with its current 1.3 billion people, is expected to witness a zero population growth rate by 2030, a population expert predicted Tuesday. In the first half of the 21st century, China will witness a peak in its total population, working-age population, and elderly population, according to the National Population and Family Planning Commission. One third of China's total population, about 437 million people, will be citizens over 60 years old in 2050, while its population of 16 to 60-year-olds will hit the peak of 990 million in 2016, government figures showed. The work-age population will then drop to 870 million in 2050, according to government projection.

The basic requirements of family planning are late marriage and late childbearing, having fewer but healthier babies, especially one child per couple.

 It is not an all-encompassing rule because it has always been restricted to ethnic Han Chinese living in urban areas. Citizens living in rural areas and minorities living in China are not subject to the law.  In rural areas, couples may have a second baby in exceptional cases, but must wait several years after the birth of the first child. In areas inhabited by minority peoples, each ethnic group may work out different regulations in accordance with its wish, population, natural resources, economy, culture and customs: in general a couple may have a second baby, or a third child in some places. As for ethnic minorities with extremely small populations, a couple may have as many children as they want.

 The “one child” policy has resulted in a dramatic alteration of the family structure in China.  Traditionally, the Chinese desired for several generations to live under the same roof, with a large number of offspring in the household.  However, modern life, particularly urban life, has made living under the same roof difficult (if not impossible), which makes it even harder for the young people to take care of their aging parents or grandparents when thelatter are in need.

 China's eleventh Five-Year Plan Period is from 2006 to Minister of the State Commission of Population and Family Planning Zhang Weiqing confirmed in early 2006 that China's one child policy is consistent with the nation's plan for population growth and would continue indefinitely. He denied rumors that the policy become less stringent to permit a second child.

 The End  Thank you !