From Xinhua:
China’s population will reach the peak in the first half of the 21st century, said Zhao Baige, Vice Minister of the State Commission of Population and Family Planning on Monday.
……Zhao said 800,000 to 1.2 million babies are born every year with birth defects. The population of handicapped people has topped 60 million, which is equal to the population of France.
Meanwhile, China’s elderly population has outpaced security and social services. Currently 7 percent of the total population are over the age of 65. Zhao urged new policies be drafted to ensure their quality of life after retirement. [Full Text]
See CDT’s earlier post of “Nation’s one-child policy ‘will not change’ “.
