The Economic Pressure of Population Ageing in China and Its Policy Regulation

To understand and to measure the economic pressure caused by population ageing is a great difficulty in demography. Moreover, whether and how population ageing can be effectively intervened and regulated is a common concern and debatable issue among the policy makers and demographers. This paper is going to make a probe into these issues with China as an example. By adopting innovative approaches, the author makes quantitative analysis and international comparative study of the economic pressure of population ageing of China between 1980 and 2050. On the basis of these studies, this research tries to explore the necessity, feasibility and a possible path to regulate China’s economic pressure of population ageing by relying on its birth control policy.

The approach adopted in this research to measure the economic pressure of population ageing is the Ageing and Economics Coordination Index (AECI for short) proposed by the author in 2009. The conception of the AECI has made the economic pressure of population ageing quantifiable and comparable.

The data of this research are generally quoted from the World Bank, the United Nations, and the 2010 national census of China.

This study will contribute to a better understanding of the unique “China Paradigm” in population ageing.