China’s economy is facing a “time bomb” that’s “about to explode,” an expert has warned.
The country’s working-age population is shrinking as a share of the total number of people in the country.
National Bureau of Statistics data showed that the number of people aged 16 to 59 accounted for 61.3 percent of mainland China’s population last year, down from 62 percent the year before.
With fewer people having children and lifespans increasing in the country, the demographic shift could have big implications for China.
Matthew Henderson, an associate fellow at the Council on Geostrategy, analysed the challenges faced by China in his column for the Telegraph.
In it, he says this problem represents a “time bomb” that’s “about to explode”.
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He highlighted that the death rate in China last year was the highest since 1974, the taxes of one worker now have to ” boost the state pensions of four retired relatives”, and the 2023 birth rate fell by 5.7 percent.
Mr Henderson added: “The realities are stark. Last year, 11.6 million Chinese graduates tried to enter the workforce. One in five is likely to remain unemployed. Others who did find work are victims to an obsolete ethic of unrewarded hard work and sacrifice.
“Increasingly, Chinese people realise that their leaders have abandoned all pretence of a reliable social contract in justification for single-party rule. Neither they nor the free citizens of Taiwan, have the least faith in talk of China’s “glorious rejuvenation”.
“Both sides of the Straits can see that the emperor in Beijing now has no clothes.”
During his New Year address, Chinese President Xi Jinping tried to big up his country’s economy, saying it had “sustained the momentum of recovery.”
To try and address the impending problems with demographics, Xi urged women in China to bear more children.
He said in October that it is necessary to “actively cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing and strengthen guidance on young people’s view on marriage, childbirth and family.”
Statistics show that China’s total population dropped by more than 2 million people to 1.41 billion in 2023 – a much bigger decline than the drop of 850,000 people in 2022.
