CHINA / SOCIETY
China’s existing demographic dividend and emerging talent dividend to secure xiaokang achievements: authorities
Published: Sep 28, 2021 04:32 PM
Pregnant women show paintings on their bellies drawn by their husbands during an event celebrating the Father's Day in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 18, 2017. About 17.23 million babies were born in 2017, of which 51 percent have an older sibling, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. However, the total number of births fell by about 630,000 compared with 2016 while percentage of the population aged over 60 rose from 16.7 percent in 2016 to 17.3 percent in 2017. (Xinhua/Zhu Haochen)

Pregnant women show paintings on their bellies drawn by their husbands during an event celebrating the Father's Day in Nantong, east China's Jiangsu Province, June 18, 2017. About 17.23 million babies were born in 2017, of which 51 percent have an older sibling, according to the National Health and Family Planning Commission. However, the total number of births fell by about 630,000 compared with 2016 while percentage of the population aged over 60 rose from 16.7 percent in 2016 to 17.3 percent in 2017. (Xinhua/Zhu Haochen)



Although the growth rate of China's total population has slowed down with a declining fertility rate and a deepening aging problem, the demographic dividend still exists on the whole, and the talent dividend will become more dominant, Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics, said at a press conference held by China's State Council Information Office on Tuesday. 

With the improvement of population policy and the long-term positive economic development, China still has a fine talent pool to secure the building of a modern socialist China, Ning said while answering a question raised by Japanese media outlet Nippon TV on whether China's economy and achievements of xiaokang will be affected by population aging. 

At the press conference, China's State Council Information Office issued a white paper to document the country's journey from poverty to moderate prosperity in all respects, or xiaokang. 

The white paper, titled "China's Epic Journey from Poverty to Prosperity," said the realization of moderate prosperity in all respects, as declared in July, marks a critical step toward national rejuvenation for the country.

"China remains the world's most populous country, and its total population continues to grow, with the number of working-age people between the age of 16 and 59 reaching 880 million," Ning said. "There are more than 300 million women of childbearing age in China, which will ensure more than 10 million newborn babies every year."

Talent dividends are gradually emerging following the improved education level, said Ning. Over the past decade, China accomplished positive achievements in vigorously developing higher education and eliminating illiteracy among young adults.

The average years of schooling for people in the working-age group increased from 9.67 years to 10.75 years, and the number of people who have received college-level education reached 208 million in 2020, accounting for nearly 24 percent of the working-age population.

According to the white paper, the average life expectancy in China rose from 67.8 years in 1981 to 77.3 years in 2019, infant mortality declined from 37.6 per 1,000 at the end of 1970s to 5.4 per 1,000 in 2020. Maternal mortality also dropped from 43.2 per 100,000 in 2002 to 16.9 per 100,000 in 2020.

"It suggests a significant improvement in the physical health of China's population," Ning noted, stressing that the overall health level of the Chinese people is higher than the average of middle- and high-income countries.

Thanks to a shift to the second-child policy, China has seen a rebound in the number of births. In 2020, China's population aged between zero and 14 hit 253.38 million, an increase of 30.92 million from 10 years ago, or 1.35 percentage points in proportion to the total population, as shown in the once-in-a-decade population census released earlier this year. 

In August, the National People's Congress Standing Committee, China's top legislature, passed an amendment to the Population and Family Planning Law, which allows each couple to have three children and stipulates supporting measures for the new policy.

As a companion change to the revised Population and Family Planning Law, the State Council, China's cabinet, decided on Sunday to repeal three administrative regulations related to family planning policies, including regulations on technical services for family planning, social maintenance fees and family planning work for the migrant population. 

The three administrative regulations are repealed in order to adapt to the new situation of China's population and economic and social development, optimize the fertility policy and promote long-term balanced population development, said the official release.

Global Times