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China s population中国人口 The most surprising demographic crisis出乎意料的人口危机 A new census raises questions about the future ofChinas one-child policy 新的人口普查结果对中国独生子女政策的未来提出了质疑 DOES China have enough people? The question might seem absurd. The country has longbeen famous both for having the worlds largest population and for having taken draconianmeasures to restrain its growth. Though many people, Chinese and outsiders alike, havelooked aghast at the brutal and coercive excesses of the one-child policy, there has also oftenbeen a grudging acknowledgment that China needed to do something to keep its vastnumbers in check. 中国人够多吗?这个问题够傻的。这个国家一直以来都因为它居于世界首位的庞大人口以及为了控制人口增长而实行的严格政策而享有盛名。尽管许多中国人以及外国人对这项独生子女政策的不讲理以及高压手段瞠目结舌，最终他们还是勉强承认中国需要这项政策来控制庞大的人口。 But new census figures bolster claims made in the past few years that China is suffering froma demographic problem of a different sort: too low a birth rate. The latest numbers, releasedon April 28th and based on the nationwide census conducted last year, show a totalpopulation for Chinese mainland of 1.34 billion. They also reveal a steep decline in the averageannual population growth rate, down to 0.57% in 2000-10, half the rate of 1.07% in theprevious decade. The data imply that the total fertility rate, which is the number of children awoman of child-bearing age can expect to have, on average, during her lifetime, may now bejust 1.4, far below the replacement rate of 2.1, which eventually leads to the populationstabilising. | 
