The population, now around 1.4 billion, is likely to drop to around half a billion by 2100—and women are being blamed.

Chinese women have had it. Their response to Beijing’s demands for more children? No. 

Fed up with government harassment and wary of the sacrifices of child-rearing, many young women are putting themselves ahead of what Beijing and their families want. Their refusal has set off a crisis for the Communist Party, which desperately needs more babies to rejuvenate China’s aging population.

With the number of babies in free fall—fewer than 10 million were born in 2022, compared with around 16 million in 2012—China is headed toward a demographic collapse. China’s population, now around 1.4 billion, is likely to drop to just around half a billion by 2100, according to some projections. Women are taking the blame.

In October, Chinese Leader Xi Jinping urged the state-backed All-China Women’s Federation to “prevent and resolve risks in the women’s field,” according to an official account of the speech.

“It’s clear that he was not talking about risks faced by women but considering women as a major threat to social stability,” said Clyde Yicheng Wang, an assistant professor of politics at Washington and Lee University who studies Chinese government propaganda.

The State Council, China’s top government body, didn’t respond to questions about Beijing’s population policies.

    • @[email protected]English
      0•6 months ago

      China wants people to move from rural areas to cities

      Given their development patterns, it more appears that Chinese planners want the cities to move to rural areas. The article you’re citing is describing mass modernization in some of the most remote corners of the country. Northern Hebei abuts Inner Mongolia. Liaocheng is basically China’s Iowa.

      they forcibly move them

      Did you even read the article? They are redeveloping historically agricultural land into urban industrial centers, primarily for the purpose of increasing output in these agricultural territories. Farmers are moving from underdeveloped ranch homes to fully electrified and transit-connected tower blocks of their own accord. In fact, one of the bigger complaints in China is the political economy around folks jumping the queue in order to get into these new luxury units faster.

      “Urbanization is in China’s future, but China’s rural population lags behind in enjoying the benefits of economic development,” said Li Shuguang, professor at the China University of Political Science and Law. “The rural population deserves the same benefits and rights city folks enjoy.”

      This is a sentiment that’s sharply divided rural and urban communities in China for decades, and which has contributed to a gray market of labor moving from poorer rural neighborhoods to richer urban centers that the state is hoping to discourage.