China faces demographic challenge as birth rate drops despite government efforts

China’s birth rate has fallen to its lowest level since the Great Famine of 1961, when millions of people starved to death and reproduction consequently plummeted. During the country’s two-week annual parliamentary meetings, March 3-15, officials focused on the looming crisis reflected in statistics that say 17.9 per cent of the population is now over age 60 and that fewer babies are being born. As a result, China faces a dwindling labour force with a larger dependency ratio for the greying…