Demography of China

The policy of the single child

The installation of the extreme demographic policy which one names " of the child unique" (end of the year 1970) is somewhat surprising of first access. Indeed, Chinese fruitfulness strongly fell between 1970 and 1978, passing from 5.75 to 2.75 child through woman]. The demographic policy précédaente (wan-xi shao) was thus a great success. However, because of the particularly high fruitfulness of the years pro-natalistes, the density of the number of women in age to put at the world will progress until the beginning of the year 1990]. Thus, the birthrate will be under influence of a formidable inertia and will remain very high during still several decades.

The origin of the Policy makes debate. Some, whose Susanne Greenhalgh, think that it finds its roots in the fear of an overpopulation]. But, projections on which these fears would be based are so coarsely erroneous that it is not very probable that leaders can take them with the serious one. Consequently, other authors, in particular Pascal Rocha da Silva, advance the assumption that the Policy has before a a whole economic motivation. Indeed, it is installation by Deng Xiaoping concomitantly with Four Modernizations. Those indicate that the new legitimacy of the Chinese State is no longer in the dogma but in the concrete improvement of the standard of living. To limit the number of children drastiquement makes it possible to more fully allocate the thin financial resources of the state to the economic growth. In 1995, the state indicates that such is the goal of the policy in these terms: " the family planning must be useful and be subordinate to the central task of the development économique". A secondary reason is that Four Modernizations will involve, in a foreseeable way, a fall of the official supervision of the campaigns: it is not consequently possible any more to continue the policy of wan-xi-shao, which is contingent on the structure of the period Maoist (which makes it possible to supervise each one in any time).].

However, with the any end of the year 1970, the Popular republic of China, in order to limit the growth of its population, adopted a regulation limiting the number of child per couple to 1. The ethnic minorities (except Zhuang, the first ethnic minority of China) are not, initially, concerned. In 1984, vis-a-vis in the report which the Policy is unbearable for the peasants, the state publishes document 7. This preferences for the boys rises especially from the simple fact that the Social Security (and in particular old age) are quasi non-existent in the countryside. At the time of the marriage, the wife enters the family of her husband and will deal of her parents-in-law and not with her biological parents.

Since 2002, the payment of a sum of 510 euros (5000 yuans to be paid to the urban average wages of 1200 yuans) allows the legal birth of a second child. In the case of illegal births, of the penalties are envisaged: fines and not delivery of Haikou, small allowing booklet, inter alia, exemption from payment of transport, schooling, etc An unknown number of black children - or children hidden by the families by fear of reprisals - exists in RPC. In addition, the new Chinese rich person can pay the fines. Always with an aim of slowing down the natural increase, the Chinese Constitution limits the marriages by imposing 22 years the minimal age of for the men and 20 years for the women. By delaying the formation of the hearths, she hopes to reduce the period of fruitfulness.

The respect of the quotas having a political incidence on the persons in charge of the cantons, certain exactions would have been observed in this direction, involving sterilization S and forced Avortement S.

Evolution of the population

Chinese demography, like that of the rest of the world, knew very large fluctuations in the history because of the famines, wars, epidemics (that of Variole in 70 made regress the population of 30% in a few years) and other catastrophes.

Structure of the population

The February 28th 2006, the Office of State of Statistics (BES) Chinese announced that the Chinese population had increased by 7,68 million people in 2005, that is to say a natural growth of 5,89 per thousand, against 5,87 per thousand in 2004. With the December 31st 2005, the Chinese population reached: 1307560000 people, including 562 million people living downtown and 745 million people in the rural regions. On this total figure, one counts 674 million men (either 51,5%) and 634 million women (or 48,5%). In 2005, the China recorded more than 16 million births and approximately 8,49 million death.

The Chinese population tends to age: the 60 year old share and more passed from 7,5% of the total population in 1950 to 10,9% in 2005. Ageing is accentuated more than in India, where the most 60 years 5,9% of the population represent.

Other social indicators

In 2006, China counted 106 billionaires (in dollars). The average annual salary of rural is established with 350 euros whereas that of the townsmen is of 11.700 yuans (1 170 euros)

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