Census reveals China’s population is ageing

China’s population has grown to 1.34 billion according to results from the country’s first census in a decade. The head count has also revealed the country has an ageing population.

It is the result, say analysts, of three decades of strategies aimed at slowing population growth.

The data has raised the debate again over the country’s one-child policy with more older people now and fewer younger ones to pay for them. For many though the question is not whether they want another child but whether they can afford a larger family. Qui Linwei is a financial worker who explained her reasons for wanting only one child.

“I can’t really say whether the government should stop the one-child policy or not, but for myself, I am determined to only have one child . I couldn’t raise too many children,” she said.

With fewer young people available for work there are concerns the country may not be able to sustain the fast economic growth that has transformed China into the world’s second largest economy after the United States.

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