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What a shrinking China means for the world
Asia Times ^

Posted on 05/30/2022 4:29:46 AM PDT by FarCenter

...

The rapid decline will have a profound impact on China’s economy.

China’s working-age population peaked in 2014 and is projected to shrink to less than one-third of that peak by 2100.

China’s elderly population (aged 65 and above) is expected to continue to climb for most of that time, passing China’s working-age population near 2080.

This means that while there are currently 100 working-age people available to support every 20 elderly people, by 2100, 100 working-age Chinese will have to support as many as 120 elderly Chinese.

The annual average decline of 1.73% in China’s working-age population sets the scene for much lower economic growth unless productivity advances rapidly.

Higher labor costs, driven by the rapidly shrinking labor force, are set to push low-margin, labor-intensive manufacturing out of China to labor-abundant countries such as Vietnam, Bangladesh and India.

Already manufacturing labor costs in China are twice as high as in Vietnam.


TOPICS: News/Current Events
KEYWORDS:
A declining Chinese population is good because the population can be fed despite declining yields due to decreased use of hydrocarbon energy, fertilizer and pesticide inputs. Countries with populations exceeding the carrying capacity of their arable land will soon be in great difficulty.

The economic pain of supporting large numbers of retirees will be less in China. Elderly Chinese work until they die, if only doing intensive gardening to raise food.

1 posted on 05/30/2022 4:29:46 AM PDT by FarCenter
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To: FarCenter

bkmk for study


2 posted on 05/30/2022 4:42:34 AM PDT by sauropod ("We put all our politicians in prison as soon as they are elected. Don’t you?" Why? "It saves time.”)
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To: FarCenter

The Chinese are not beyond euthanizing their elderly if required.


3 posted on 05/30/2022 4:42:36 AM PDT by Erik Latranyi (We are being manipulated by forces that most do not see)
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To: FarCenter

This 78 year extrapolation ignores productivity growth.

If productivity grows 2% per year, productivity will grow by 4.7 X times in 78 years.

Instead of 100 workers supporting 120 elderly Chinese, it will be the same as 470 (4.7 X 100) workers supporting 120 elderly.

That is almost the same ratio as today - 5 workers to 1 elderly in 2022. 4 workers to 1 elderly in 2100.


4 posted on 05/30/2022 5:03:01 AM PDT by zeestephen
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To: Erik Latranyi; null and void; Travis McGee; bagster

(The Chinese are not beyond euthanizing their elderly if required)

In Obamacare it’s death panels that aren’t actually called “death panels” so the sheep 🐑🐑🐑 stay ignorant.


5 posted on 05/30/2022 5:11:28 AM PDT by SaveFerris (The Lord, The Christ and The Messiah: Jesus Christ of Nazareth - http://www.BiblicalJesusChrist.Com/)
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To: FarCenter

Maybe the Chinese Govt should’ve been putting the Uyghurs to work rather than slicing and dicing them for body parts.


6 posted on 05/30/2022 5:20:29 AM PDT by moovova
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To: FarCenter

The fallacy is the working age projections.

When push comes to shove, the working age will be forced to increase. Old folks must work because they must in order to survive


7 posted on 05/30/2022 5:28:11 AM PDT by bert ( (KWE. NP. N.C. +12) Promoting Afro Heritage diversity will destroy the democrats)
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To: Erik Latranyi
The Chinese are not beyond euthanizing their elderly if required.

What? Are they going to deliberately expose the old folks in the old folks homes to actively infectious COVID patients?

No one with a shred of humanity would be that evil, not even the Chinese. Maybe a democrat?

8 posted on 05/30/2022 5:34:44 AM PDT by null and void (We're trapped between too many questions unanaswered, and too many answers unquestioned...)
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To: Erik Latranyi
The Chinese are not beyond euthanizing their elderly if required.

China is still reasonably Confucian with the respect for the elderly that that implies. So euthanizing the elderly is unlikely.

On the other hand, by necessity, they are unlikely to adopt US standards of medical care where we are spending 16% of GDP on medical care, with about a fourth of that spent treating people during the last 18 months of life.

9 posted on 05/30/2022 5:35:40 AM PDT by FarCenter
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To: moovova

There are about 13 million Uyghurs in China, or less than 1% of the population. Their numbers are too small to matter demographically.


10 posted on 05/30/2022 5:40:48 AM PDT by FarCenter
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To: Erik Latranyi

Correct.


11 posted on 05/30/2022 5:55:40 AM PDT by sauropod (What we’re living through is not an unintentional accident: it’s the American Holodomor.)
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To: null and void

Actually, the Chinese locked people in their homes and apartments when this all started.


12 posted on 05/30/2022 6:01:27 AM PDT by sauropod (What we’re living through is not an unintentional accident: it’s the American Holodomor.)
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To: FarCenter

See post 12.


13 posted on 05/30/2022 6:02:37 AM PDT by sauropod (What we’re living through is not an unintentional accident: it’s the American Holodomor.)
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To: sauropod

Welded, not merely locked.


14 posted on 05/30/2022 6:20:05 AM PDT by null and void (We're trapped between too many questions unanaswered, and too many answers unquestioned...)
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To: FarCenter

The one-child policy is coming back to haunt the Chicoms.


15 posted on 05/30/2022 6:28:45 AM PDT by MuttTheHoople (The best slaves put their own chains on )
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To: null and void

Ahhh. You remember. ;-)


16 posted on 05/30/2022 6:31:48 AM PDT by sauropod (What we’re living through is not an unintentional accident: it’s the American Holodomor.)
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To: Erik Latranyi

Just hope its not your grandchildren and great-grandchildren that will be forced to fill in the gap.


17 posted on 05/30/2022 6:46:38 AM PDT by Don Corleone (leave the gun, take the canolis)
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To: sauropod

The controversial directive for New York nursing homes to admit COVID-19 patients increased the death toll among residents — and Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s claims otherwise have been disproven


18 posted on 05/30/2022 6:48:23 AM PDT by null and void (We're trapped between too many questions unanaswered, and too many answers unquestioned...)
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To: FarCenter

Projecting out 60 yrs into the future is silly.


19 posted on 05/30/2022 8:11:18 AM PDT by lurk (u)
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To: FarCenter

So many far off predictions turn out wrong when trends seen now do not become the true trend in time.

I think technology could be changing the viability of an economy with an aging population.


20 posted on 05/30/2022 8:41:53 AM PDT by Wuli
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