demographics

Raising a child in China is more expensive than almost anywhere else in the world. How did China’s childcare costs get so high, and what does this mean for the country’s future? Beijing-based think tank YuWa Population Research has estimated that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 is RMB 538,000 (£58,900), more than six times China’s GDP per capita*. The report found that only …

China’s latest demographic data was released by the National Bureau of Statistics on 17 January, showing that the country’s population fell for a second consecutive year. The latest data reinforces fears about the challenges a declining population will pose for the world’s second-largest economy, which has long relied on a plentiful and ambitious workforce to fuel its industrial and economic growth. The population decline of 0.15% – or 2.08 million …

The new decision marks a significant shift in China’s family planning policy, but it remains to be seen whether young couples will take advantage of it At a meeting of the Politburo of the CPC Central Committee on Monday, 31 May 2020, it was announced that China will now allow couples to have a third child. This follows an earlier move in 2016 that allowed couples to have two children. …

Out goes the brawn and in comes the brains as Beijing looks to smarten up its population, writes Tom Pattinson Beijing recently announced that it plans to demolish 40 million square metres of illegal structures around Beijing. That’s six times the size of Gibraltar or more space than the city of Lincoln occupies. Last year, Beijing started bricking up buildings and areas that were deemed illegal. Most of these were …