Editing Demographics of China (section)

===Fertility and mortality===
[[File:Chang%27an_avenue_in_Beijing.jpg|thumb|upright=1.36|Traffic in Beijing]]
{{See also|Aging of China}}{{More citations needed|section|date=September 2024}}
In 1949 crude death rates were probably higher than 30 per 1,000, and the average life expectancy was only 35 years. Beginning in the early 1950s, [[Mortality rate|mortality]] steadily declined; it continued to decline through 1978 and remained relatively constant through 1987. One major fluctuation was reported in a computer reconstruction of China's population trends from 1953 to 1987 produced by the [[United States Bureau of the Census]]. The computer model showed that the crude death rate increased dramatically during the famine years associated with the [[Great Leap Forward]] (1958–60).{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

According to Chinese government statistics, the crude birth rate followed five distinct patterns from 1949 to 1982. It remained stable from 1949 to 1954, varied widely from 1955 to 1965, experienced fluctuations between 1966 and 1969, dropped sharply in the late 1970s, and increased from 1980 to 1981. Between 1970 and 1980, the crude birth rate dropped from 33.4 per 1,000 to 18.2 per 1,000. The government attributed this dramatic decline in fertility to the ''wǎn xī shǎo'' ("晚、稀、少", or "late, long, few": later marriages, longer intervals between births, and fewer children) [[birth control]] campaign. However, elements of socioeconomic change, such as increased employment of women in both urban and rural areas and reduced [[infant mortality]] (a greater percentage of surviving children would tend to reduce demand for additional children), may have played some role. The birth rate increased in the 1980s to a level over 20 per 1,000, primarily as a result of a marked rise in marriages and first births. The rise was an indication of problems with the one-child policy of 1979. Chinese sources, however, indicate that the birth rate started to decrease again in the 1990s and reached a level of around 12 per 1,000 in recent years.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

In urban areas, the housing shortage may have been at least partly responsible for the decreased birth rate. Also, the policy in force during most of the 1960s and the early 1970s of sending large numbers of high school graduates to the countryside deprived cities of a significant proportion of persons of childbearing age and undoubtedly had some effect on birth rates (see [[Cultural Revolution]] (1966–76)). Primarily for economic reasons, rural birth rates tended to decline less than urban rates. The right to grow and sell agricultural products for personal profit and the lack of an old-age [[Economic welfare|welfare system]] were incentives for rural people to produce many children, especially sons, for help in the fields and for support in old age. Because of these conditions, it is unclear to what degree education has been able to erode traditional values favoring large families.{{citation needed|date=October 2023}}

China exhibits a serious [[son preference in China|gender imbalance]]. Census data obtained in 2000 revealed that 119 boys were born for every 100 girls, and among China's "floating population" the ratio was as high as 128:100. These situations led the government in July 2004 to ban selective abortions of female fetuses. It is estimated{{By whom|date=December 2024}} that this imbalance will rise until 2025–2030 to reach 20% then slowly decrease.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sinoptic.ch/textes/articles/2007/2007_Projection.population.Chine.pdf |title=Pascal Rocha da Silva, Projection de la population chinoise 2000–2050, p. 9, cf. |access-date=14 October 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130811020453/http://www.sinoptic.ch/textes/articles/2007/2007_Projection.population.Chine.pdf |archive-date=11 August 2013 |df=dmy}}</ref>

In the 2020s, cash incentives have been offered to increase birth rates.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Lang |first=Qian |date=November 20, 2024 |title=Remote Chinese county offers cash for babies to boost population |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/china/2024/11/20/china-births-gansu-cash-babies/ |access-date=November 21, 2024 |work=[[Radio Free Asia]]}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite news |last1=Olcott |first1=Eleanor |last2=Xueqiao |first2=Wang |last3=Liu |first3=Nian |date=2024-12-25 |title=China steps up campaign for single people to date, marry and give birth |url=https://www.ft.com/content/5fdf42e1-2975-4c99-9031-a9f73c2251be |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-12-25 |work=[[Financial Times]]}}</ref> Local government family-planning committees, previously used to enforce the one-child policy, are deployed for pro-natalist policies such as calling women to check on their [[menstrual cycle]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 28, 2024 |title=China's government is badgering women to have babies |url=https://www.economist.com/china/2024/11/28/chinas-government-is-badgering-women-to-have-babies |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-28 |newspaper=[[The Economist]] |issn=0013-0613}}</ref><ref name=":5" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Kaufman |first=Arthur |date=2025-05-01 |title=As Marriage Registrations Drop, Local Officials Text Women: “How Has Your Period Been Recently?” |url=https://chinadigitaltimes.net/2025/04/as-marriage-registrations-drop-local-officials-text-women-how-has-your-period-been-recently/ |access-date=2025-05-02 |website=[[China Digital Times]] |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Censorship of data ====
Although the [[National Bureau of Statistics of China]] reported 9.02 million births in 2023,<ref name=":22"/> the state-owned ''Mother and Infant Daily'' newspaper reported there were 7.88 million births for the same year.<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |date=December 27, 2023 |title=China deletes leaked stats showing plunging birth rate for 2023 |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-birth-rates-plunge-12272023160425.html |access-date=2024-01-02 |website=[[Radio Free Asia]] |language=en |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102191523/https://www.rfa.org/english/news/china/china-birth-rates-plunge-12272023160425.html |url-status=live}}</ref> The report was promptly [[Internet censorship in China|censored]] following publication.<ref name=":3" />