Well placed to meet demographic challenges

China faces the challenges of a declining workforce, falling fertility rate and a fast rising aging population. The magnitude of the problem can be gauged from just one set of data: the decline in China's fertility rate in the past four decades equals that of the Western countries in about one century.

China's workforce population will reach its peak of 1 billion in two years. But since the figure is expected to drop to 760 million by 2050, that is, about 25 percent decline in less than 30 years, it would pose a great challenge to China's economic development.

The age structure of China's population has changed drastically in the past decades due to the declining fertility rate. But since the phenomenon is not unique to China, the strict family planning policy alone should not be blamed for it. Even some Asian countries that haven't implemented any family planning policy such as Singapore, the Republic of Korea and Japan have a very low fertility rate, and are battling aging populations. Why? After a country experiences economic development and transforms from an agricultural to an industrial society, couples in general tend to have fewer children.