From the past to the future: what we learn from China’s 2020 Census

Abstract

The population of China has entered an era of low fertility and aging, with a slower growth rate in the last decade. This commentary briefly reviews demographic changes in China in the last seven decades with some important years of change in mortality, fertility and urbanization, and discusses future trends according to the information provided by the 2020 Census. China has experienced “compressed” population change, and population aging will continue to advance, meanwhile the size of the population is expected to reach its peak in the near future. To prepare proper response to the challenges proactively, institutional change which adapts to population changes is necessary.