Is China going down the same path as Japan with its ageing population?
China’s demographic picture is starting to look a lot like Japan’s, with new births in decline, a shrinking workforce and an ageing population, according to the latest official data.
While China’s headline growth accelerated to 6.9 per cent in 2017 from 6.7 per cent in 2016, its demographic statistics are less positive.
Despite the nationwide introduction of a two-child policy in 2015, the number of new births fell to 17.23 million last year, from 17.86 million in 2016, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday. At the same time, the labour force – defined as those aged between 16 and 59 – shrank by more than 5 million last year.
Read More: South China Morning Post
