China village shows aging population

Beijing (AP)-China's population is ageing fast, the Government said Thursday, although its leaders refuse to relax strict family planning controls that are part of the cause. By Alexander F. Yuan, AP

Older women are in a wheelchair pushed by aid workers while touring a park in Beijing, April 28.

By Alexander F. Yuan, AP

Older women are in a wheelchair pushed by aid workers while touring a park in Beijing, April 28.

The results of a national census carried out at the end of last year Show the number of elderly people in the country of 1.34 billion increased, while that of young people plunged sharply. The 2000 census results, announced Thursday, also indicates that half the population now live in cities.The 2000 census adds data to the gang in China in the past ten years, as economic reforms raise standard of living and get more people from farms in the cities while smaller families get world-changing shifts and the ageing population.China's rapid aging has fueled concerns about how long the country could support the high economic growth, will be as fewer young people available to work in factories and the roads that transformed in's the world's second-largest economy after the United States .the 2000 census results show that people of 60 years and above include build 13.3 percent of the population of almost 3 percentage points from 2000. Young people of 14 years and below accounted for 16.6%, down 6.3 percentage points from ten years ago.Ma Jiantang, Commissioner of the National Bureau of statistics, told reporters that while nationwide the population ages, the trend is more pronounced in coastal areas and more developed areas where the population is relatively large and land is scarce.The results also showed that 49.7 percent of the population now lives in cities, up from about 36 percent ten years ago.The total population figure of 1.34 billion was released earlier this year. The rose with 73.9 million is equal to the population of Turkey, or California, Texas and Ohio combined in the Decade, a slower rate than in previous decades. The reduced growth reflects the results of one-child policy of the country, most urban couples to one child and rural families to two limited.Wang Feng, a population expert and Director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for public policy in Beijing, said that the census results confirmed that China's population has turned a corner, with massive migration flows and a birth rate of not more than 1.5 children per couple. "That is shockingly low for a large country like China, "said Wang. He said that the numbers showed that China about 40 million people of 60 years or older in the last ten years have added."We're looking at a province of China or a large country in the world and that's how many elderly people have been added, said Wang. "This is only the beginning of an accelerated process that fertility is now so low, ageing of the population will only get more serious."There is growing speculation among Chinese media, experts and ordinary people about whether the Government will soon relax the one-child policy, introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb the rising population growth and more people have two children.But leaders have a wish the status quo. President Hu Jintao told that one of the top leaders of the Communist Party convened Tuesday to discuss population issues that China's policy of strict family planning to keep the birth rate will keep low. Asked about possible changes in the policy, repeated statistics bureau Commissioner Ma Hu's position.China credits family planning its limits by 400 million additional births and helping a traditional preference for large families who had perpetuated poverty. But there are serious concerns about the side effects of the policy, such as selective abortion of girls and are a rapidly aging population.The official Xinhua News Agency said Hu briefly touched on concerns about population structure and the growing number of older people at the meeting of Tuesday, saying that social security and services for older people need to be improved. He also called on officials to strategies to deal with more retirees.