This blog is intended to go along with Population: An Introduction to Concepts and Issues, by John R. Weeks, published by Cengage Learning. The latest edition is the 13th (it will be out in January 2020), but this blog is meant to complement any edition of the book by showing the way in which demographic issues are regularly in the news.

You can download an iPhone app for the 13th edition from the App Store (search for Weeks Population).

If you are a user of my textbook and would like to suggest a blog post idea, please email me at: john.weeks@sdsu.edu

Friday, April 29, 2011

China's Census Counts 1.34 Billion

China released the results of its 2010 census yesterday, and the total population number was almost exactly what the United Nations demographers had been projecting--1.34 billion--despite the New York Times story that incorrectly suggested that the UN had been expecting 1.4 billion. 

Ma Jianting, the director of China’s National Bureau of Statistics, said at a news conference on Thursday that the slowed rate of population growth showed that the one-child policy had “eased the pressure on resources and the environment and laid a relatively good foundation for steady and rapid economic and social development.”
But he suggested that the population’s rapid aging was a matter of potential concern. “We also need to pay close attention to the new changes of our population structure, adhering to the family planning policy while cautiously and gradually improving the policy to promote more balanced population growth in the country,” the state-run Xinhua news agency quoted him as saying.
The major trends revealed by the census data are those we already know about--rapid aging and rapid urbanization, accompanied by massive inequalities, especially between rural and urban areas. These issues are discussed in more detail in a very informative BBC Radio report.

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