Recent statistics show modest increases in the Chinese population since last year. From CBC News:
The figure of 1.3410 billion, which is preliminary and based on a sample survey, shows China added about 6.3 million people last year, up from 1.3347 billion at the end of 2009. A more accurate figure is expected to be released within the next few months after the government tallies the results of its 2010 census, the first in 10 years.
“China’s population now is mainly growing because people are living longer, not because people are having lots of babies,” said Cai Yong, an assistant professor at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and an expert on China’s population.
Many wonder if these findings of slower population growth will cause the government to relax its one-child policy, which has been in effect since 1979. To read more about the calls to change China’s one-child policy, see here.
