Photo: VCG

China is still within "the opportunity window" of the demographic dividends, which will end soon given the declining number of new born babies and the rapidly growing elderly population rate, said a Chinese demographic expert on Thursday.

The popular conception "demographic dividend", which closely relates to the changes of population age structure, can be seen as "structural dividend" from the perspective of population economics, said Song Jian, deputy director of Population Development Studies Center in Renmin University.

Song explained at a press conference held by the national health commission on Thursday that the demographic window is formed from the high rate of working population and may not be transferred into demographic dividend.

"But China has 'the opportunity window' and promoted the rapid social and economic development through the demographic dividend," said Song.

In the future, China needs to turn the closed-to-end "structural dividend" into "quality dividend" which focuses on the exploitation of elder dividend and female dividend, emphasized Song.

The number of newborns in the Chinese mainland dropped to 10.62 million in 2021, close to the number of deaths, leaving a net increase of 480,000 people in 2021. With the birth rate of below 1 percent in 2020, marking a new low in 43 years, China has implemented various policies to encourage people to have more children, including giving out allowances and extending maternity leave.

Global Times