Title: The past and future of population growth, economic development of China's eight regions.

POPLINE Document Number: 202672

Author(s):

Hu H

Source citation:

Shanghai, China, East China Normal University, Population Research Institute, 1986. 81 p.

Abstract:

The total population of China in 1933 was 463 million, with an average density of 48 persons per square kilometer. From 1933 to 1953, China's population growth was much slower than from 1953 to 1982 because of the Anti-Japanese War and the National Liberation War. Only from 1970 on was family planning a serious activity. Since liberation, population growth in China has varied in different provinces, cities, and regions. The 2 municipalities of Beijing and Tianjin had great population increases. The pattern of China's population distribution clearly demonstrates a great difference between the southeast and the northwest. The population of the southeast makes up 94.4% of the total. The distribution of population and economy is dense in the east and sparse in the west, that of energy and industrial resources dense in the west and sparse in the east, that of water resources dense in the southeast and sparse in the northwest. The country can be divided into 8 major population regions: 1) the Lower Huanghe region, 2) the Liao-Ji Hei region, 3) the Middle-Lower Changjiang region, 4) the Southeast Coast region, 5) the Jin-Shaan-Gan-Ning region, 6) the Sichuan-Guizhou-Yunnan region, 7) the Inner Mongolia-Xinjiang region, and 8) and the Qinghai-Xizang region. The population and development of each region has its own characteristics, so programs should be approached separately. The 1982 census shows that China's population has been over 1 billion. In 1981 the urban total fertility rate was 1.39, while the rural rate was 2.91. Owing to the large proportion of adolescents, it is likely that China's population will grow larger by the beginning of the next century. By 2030, the total population will probably amount to 1.3 to 1.4 billion.

Keywords:

China
Population Growth
Fertility Changes
Economic Development
Geographic Factors
Changes
Developing Countries
Asia, Eastern
Asia
Population Dynamics
Demographic Factors
Population
Fertility
Economic Factors
Social Change