Member-only story
China is Getting Old
Why the 21st Century Will Be Another American Century Part 4
Unfortunately for China, they are becoming old before they can get rich. China, like Japan, faces the same issue: an ageing population due to the improvement of its economies, eugenic policies in China with the one-child policy created in 1980, and social factors that have led to the collapse and growth of the population.
For the Japanese, the issue was partly caused by the 1973 oil crisis in the 1970s, the last time Japan had a stable birthrate of 2.1 due to instability that led to couples deciding not to have children and putting off parenthood.
For the Chinese, the Chinese Communist Party implemented the one-child policy due to fear of overpopulation.
For nations to have a healthy demographic, there needs to be more young than older people in the system. If a country has too many older people at the top of a democratic pyramid, it will collapse.
If that nation had not transitioned to a post-industrial society, young people wouldn’t have worked hard in manufacturing jobs. China has experienced fantastic household income growth over the last 40 years, mainly from 2001 to 2021.
China’s citizens were estimated to hold just 9% of the world’s wealth.
That figure has now more than doubled, while the country’s median wealth has skyrocketed from $3,111 to $26,752 between 2000 and 2021.
Comparison In Japan, the average household net wealth is estimated at USD 294,735, lower than the OECD average of USD 323,960.
Statistics show that China is getting old before it can get rich, which means its economy won’t survive without industrialisation or access to the globalised economy.
