China's new birth figures are inaccurate, population crisis much worse than projected: Expert
PremiumAccording to a Chinese expert, China's population crisis is considerably worse than the official numbers provided by Beijing.
According to an economic history professor, China's new birth figures are erroneous. According to the Chinese expert, China's population crisis is greater than government data indicates. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's birth rate was 0.752 percent and its mortality rate was 0.718 percent, resulting in a natural growth rate of 0.034 percent. According to Nikkei Asia, the natural growth rate in 2020 will be 0.145 percent.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China's population hit 1.41 billion by the end of 2021, up 480,000 over the previous year (NBS). According to reports, the ongoing reduction in marriage registrations in China has resulted in a drop in birth rates, which may eventually lead to the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue.
According to The Singapore Post, China's overall population has expanded 5.8 percent since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion, compared to 11.7 percent, nearly double, during the 1990 and 2000 censuses (Hvistendahl, 2011).
Any development that undermines the People's Liberation Army, including population reduction, will damage the Communist Party's leadership in the People's Republic of China, according to Kent Deng, an economic history professor at the London School of Economics and Political Science (PRC).
"The official new birth figures are not accurate. Actually, the gap between the birthrate and death rate is closing up, and you have such a narrow margin between the two. The [official] natural growth rate is not real. This is basically for propaganda," said.
"In the PRC point of view, the party means the army to safeguard China's national sovereignty. Army is also used to maintain China's tranquillity or stability internally. Anything that weakens the army will automatically weaken the party rule. Who rules China? I will say not the party, but the army rules China," he said.
Last year, the number of marriages in China fell to a 36-year low, exacerbating the world's second-largest economy's demographic issue. As per the data, analysts predict this will contribute to the country's dropping birth rate.
Last year, Beijing issued a new Population and Family Planning Law that allows Chinese couples to have three children, ostensibly responding to couples' unwillingness to have additional children due to rising costs.
The decision to allow the third child was implemented after the once-in-a-decade census in 2020 showed that China's population expanded at the slowest rate in history, reaching 1.412 billion people.
According to census data, China's demographic issue is predicted to worsen as the over 60 years old population increased by 18.7 percent to 264 million people.
(With ANI inputs)
