The number of elderly people in China has grown by more than the population of Spain over the past decade, increasing pressure on Beijing to abandon the one-child policy that has contributed to its ageing population.
China unveiled results of its latest census on Thursday which showed that the number of people over 60 rose about 48m, accounting for 13.3 per cent of the population. Ten years ago, they represented just over a 10th of the population. China’s total population is now 1.339bn, up 5.8 per cent over the past decade.
“The census has triggered discussion of how population control needs to adapt,” said Li Jianmin, head of the Institute of Population and Development Research at Nankai University.