Chapter 5: Population and Urbanization in China

Keywords

1. Birth rates
2. Death rates
3. One-child policy
4. Population
5. Population density
6. Population distribution
7. Rural-urban drift
8. Urbanization

After studying this chapter, you should be able to;

1. know the total population of China and the changes in her population growth rate.
2. know the number and size of some urban areas in China
3. Understand the size and rapid growth of China’s population and the reasons for this.
4. understand the reasons for the adoption of the one-child policy in China
5. understand the consequences of the one-child policy and the changes in it
6. understand the reasons that lead to rural-urban drift and the growth of urban areas in China
7. understand the growth of Shanghai as a major city
8. understand government control over the growth of urban areas
9. use maps, statistics, graphs and diagrams to analyze the population
10. draw a map to show the major urban areas of China
11. Understand the methods which can be used to control the rate of population growth.
12. appreciate the advantages and disadvantages of the one-child policy A
13. appreciate the advantages and problems of having a large or rapidly increasing population in a country.
14. appreciate the need for, and use of Population control methods.

Introduction

Did you know that China is the world’s most populous country? Its population growth decreased to around 0.29 percent in recent years and total population fi are projected to drop in the 2030s. figure In this chapter you will be able to understand the size of China’s population, the histo of its growth rate, the one-child population policy and its impacts on the country population growth and development.

Population size and population growth in China

You learned about the population in Africa. Can you remember what is meant by the tem the continent? China’s population is also unevenly distributed. This is because some population? You learned that the population in Africa is unevenly distributed throughout areas are densely populated others are sparsely populated. After doing tasks activity 29.1 you will be able to describe the population of China.
Activity 29.1 Describing the population of China Individually, carry out a textbook or internet research on China’s population and do the following tasks.

1 Find out

(a) the total population of China.

(b) the area of China in square kilometers

2 Swap your work with your neighbor for comments

3 Present your work to the rest of the class through discussion.

You have learnt that China has an estimated population of 1,449,447,918 and it covers an area of 9,388,211 Km2 After doing tasks in activity 29.2 you will be able to describe China’s population growth rate.

1 Draw a line or bar graph to represent China’s population from 1950 to 2020.

2 Describe the population growth rates from 1950 to 2020

3 In which years did China have the;

(a) lowest population growth rate?

(b) highest population growth rate?

4 Suggest reasons why China experienced lowest and highest population growth rates in the years identified (2) above.

5 Present your work to the rest of the class through discussion.

Factors leading to rapid population growth in China

You might have realized that China has the highest population growth rates in the whole world. In Senior Two you learned about the factors that lead to rapid population growth in East Africa. Can you remember any factor? After doing tasks in activity 29.3 will understand the factors responsible for the rapid population growth in China.

Activity 29.3 Understanding the factors leading rapid population growth in China

In groups,

1 Discuss the factors leading to the rapid population growth in China?

2 Share your work with the rest of the class through a discussion.

3 Present your work to the teacher for further guidance

You have found out that China has a rapid population growth due to increased emigration from other countries, improved health facilities, high fertility rates and decreased death rate.

Comparison of China’s population with the rest of the world

China is one of the world’s largest countries. In Senior Three, you learned about the continents of the world. You can find out the continent in which China is found. It has the biggest population in the world totaling to 1.4 billion people followed by India with 1.329 billion.

The next five countries with the highest population include the United States, Indonesia, Brazil, Pakistan, and Nigeria. After doing tasks in activity 29.4, you will be able to compare China’s population to the rest of the world.

China is the country with the highest population of nearly 1.4 billion people. Since India’s population is less than 290 million behind China; there could be a time when India will surpass its neighboring country in terms of population. The estimated population of the world is 7.8 billion as of 2020. The government of China has been introducing a number of policies to control the high population growth.

Policies introduced to control population growth in China

In Senior Two you learned about a number of ways East African countries control population growth. Can you write down any three you remember? Similarly, the government of China has introduced a number of policies to control its population growth. After doing tasks in activity 29.5 you will be able to understand the policies on population growth in China.

Activity 29.5 Finding out the policies used in controlling population growth in China

In groups, carry out a textbook or internet research on the policies used in controlling population growth in China and do the following tasks

1 Describe the methods which have been applied to control population growth in China.

2 What steps has your country taken to control population growth?

3 Present your work to the rest of the class through discussion.

You have found out that China introduced policies to control her population growth such as vasectomy, condoms, injector plan, condemning early marriages, sex education to teenagers and encouraging family planning. You also found out China introduced the one chid policy. The one child policy is where a couple was restricted to produce only one child as shown in the photograph in figure 29.1.

Figure 29.1: A Chinese couple with one child Idea

The one-child policy was a program introduced in China and it was implemented national-wide to Chinese families to have one child per family. The policy’s main aim was to address the growth rate of the country’s population which was increasing rapidly.

The policy was implemented by applying different methods ranging from offering financial bonuses for families in agreement and providing contraceptives to implementing forced sterilizations and forced abortions. In late 2012 the government announced that the one-child limit per family would end in 2016. After doing tasks in activity 29.6, you will discover the advantages and the disadvantages of the one-child policy.

Activity 29.6 Understanding the advantages and disadvantages of the one child policy

Read the extract below about the advantages and disadvantages of the one child policy and do the tasks that follow. China’s family planning policies began to be shaped by fears of overpopulation in the 1970s, and officials raised the age of marriage and called for fewer and more broadly spaced births. After a full decade of concerted efforts, a near universal one-child limit was imposed in 1980.

The policy was modified beginning in the mid-1980s to allow rural parents a second child if the first was a daughter. It also allowed exceptions for some other groups, including ethnic minorities. In 2015, the government removed all remaining one-child limits, establishing a two-child limit. In May 2021, this was loosened to a three-child limit, in July 2021 all limits as well as penalties for exceeding them were removed. The one child policy was of benefit because; More jobs became available in China because of this policy. Because the one child policy in China prevented up to 400 million births, there are now more employment opportunities available for everyone in the country.

Each person has less competition to fight through when trying to land a great job. The one child policy offered numerous exemptions that families could use. Although the public perception was that the one child policy applied to all families, that was not the case. There were financial benefits to consider for families under the one child policy.

Even if you set aside the 5-yuan financial benefit for families that only had a single child in their household, this structure helped to create more economic stability at the local level. Parents could afford more educational and vocational opportunities because there was only one child to support. Schedules were easier to manage, care needs became simple to schedule, and there would still be friends to make in each community.

The one-child policy helped to transform the role that women play in Chinese society. Because families were authorized to have only one child as part of their family composition, the role of girls and women began to grow in China. Before the policy, men received a preponderance of educational chances and career ventures from their families. The one-child policy was hated because; It created mandatory contraception and sterilization policies. As part of the one-child policy in China, women were required to have a contraceptive intrauterine device installed surgically after having their first child.

This product offers a 99% success rate at preventing pregnancy, so it was effective at controlling the population levels of the country. If a woman were to have a second child, then the government forced her to have a tubal ligation procedure. Over 320 million Chinese women were fitted with intrauterine devices under this policy between 1980-2014.

Another 108 women were forced to undergo sterilization with a tubal ligation. The men were much luckier, often being told to pay a fine for their activities instead. This policy created a disparity in the gender ratio at birth in China. The gender ratio of newborn infants in mainland China reached 117 to 100 for boys vs. girls born, which was about 10% higher than the global baseline.

It rose from 108:100 in 1981, which was the boundary of the natural baseline. That means there are 30 million more men than women in this generation of Chinese citizens, which could create significant socioeconomic issues for their country. The reason for this disparity was a desire to have boys so that the family line could continue on. This option was not available for women at the time of this policy, and it is still incredibly rare for girls to have the same family rights as men with regards to inheritance.

There may be social issues because of the unusual gender ratio. China has already admitted that having between 32 million to 36 million more men than expected in their society could result in several social problems developing the country over the years. There are tens of millions of young men who may be unable to find a future bride. The government is concerned that this may lead to higher levels of social unrest, sex trafficking, kidnapping, and other forms of criminal conduct so that intimacy can be an experience for them in some way. It caused many parents to give up their children for adoption or abandon them.

When parents had an unauthorized second birth or wanted a son, but had a daughter, then giving up the child for adoption became a financial strategy for them under the one-child policy. Adoptions of daughters accounted for more than 50% of the missing girls that were not on census documents in the country. Starting in 1991, the Chinese government raised the penalties for additional children and levied them on those who even chose to adopt. This action caused over 120,000 children who were abandoned to find hope in adoption with over 120,000 international parents.

This policy caused couples to seek fertility counseling when none was needed. Adopted from: https://futureofworking.com/9-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-the- one-child-policy/ Tasks 1 Explain the advantages of the one-child policy in China. 2 Explain the disadvantages of the one-child policy in China. 3 Present your work to the rest of the class through discussion.

Advantages of a large population in a country

When you learnt about population in East Africa and Africa you noted that having a large population is associated with a number of benefits. Similarly, China benefits from its large and rapidly increasing population. After doing tasks in activity 29.7, you will be able to understand the advantages of having a large and rapidly growing population in a country.

Activity 29.7 Understanding the advantages of a large population in a country In groups,

1 Discuss the advantages of having a large population to China.

2 Present your work to the rest of the class through a discussion.

3 Present your work to the teacher for further guidance

Problems associated with having large population in a country

In activity 29.7 you noted the advantages of a large population such as urbanization, provision of labour and market. However, a large population comes with a number of challenges. After doing tasks in activity 29.8 you will understand the problems associated with large a population in a country.

1 Identify the problems associated with rapid population growth shown in each photograph in figure 29.2

2 What other problems are associated with a rapidly increasing population?

3 Present your findings to the rest of the class through discussion.

Urbanisation in China

When you studied population and urbanisation in Africa, you noted that an area with concentrated people, buildings and services is called an urban center. Can you name the urban center in Africa? Similarly, China has over 160 cities.

According to the administrative divisions of China, there are three levels of cities, namely direct-administered municipalities, prefecture-level cities, and county-level cities. Figure 29.3 shows one of China’s urban cities. After doing tasks in activity 29.9, you will find out more about urbanisation in China.

Figure 29.3: Beijing

You have found out that urbanization in China is not uniform. Some cities are more urbanized than others. Most urbanised cities in China include Tianjin, Guangzhou, Beijing, Chongqing, Shenzhen and Shanghai. It is important to note that China’s urban cities are of different sizes. After doing tasks in activity 29.10 you will be able to describe the sizes of urban centers in China.

You have found out that China has over 100 cities with over a million people. The most populated urban areas in China are Shanghai, Beijing, Chongqing, Tianjin, Guangzhou.

Shanghai

Did you know that Shanghai is the city with the highest population and wealthiest city in China? Shanghai has the largest and busiest port in terms of containers and cargo tonnage, a grand business district, two large airports that is Pudong and Hongqiao the world’s fastest train known as the Maglev and a network of elevated highways. After doing tasks in activity 29.11 you will find out more about Shanghai.

Activity 29.11 Exploring Shanghai as the major city in China

In groups, carry out a textbook or internet research on Shanghai and do the following tasks.

1 Draw a map of China showing the location of Shanghai city.

2 What are the reasons that led to the growth of Shanghai as a major city?

3 Present your work to the rest of the class through discussion.

You have found out the reason that led to the growth of Shanghai city. You have learnt that factors such as strong leadership, free market economic, market and labour and presence of power supply play an important role in urbanisation.

Rural-Urban Drift in China

In Senior Two, you learnt about rural-urban drift in East Africa where you noted that people move from villages to towns. Similarly, China has experienced a rapid process of urbanization, created by the largest flow of rural-urban migration in the world.

Rural-urban migration made dominant contributions to Chinese urban population growth. Towns and cities are expanding covering a greater area of land. After doing tasks in activity 29.12 you will find out more about rural-urban drift in China.

Activity 29.12 Understanding Rural-Urban Migration in China

In groups, Chapter 29: Population and Urbanisation in China

1 Explain the reasons that lead to rural-urban drift in China?

2 Discuss the policies that can be used to control rural-urban drift and population migration in China.

3 Which problems can be avoided in case the policies discussed in (2) above are used?

4 Discuss whether the policies identified would be good in Africa. Comment on each other’s work and present it to the rest of the class through discussion.

You have found out that over the last 20 years, the percentage of people who live in cities has increased from 20 percent to nearly 290 percent. In 2009, there were 1429 million rural-urban migrants in China, accounting for about 11 percent of the total population.