China’s dubious population dataBy Yi Fuxian 易富賢At a recent news conference, Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強) said that the country’s demographic dividend has not disappeared, even though the population is declining. For 2000, the bureau reported that there were 17.7 million births — a figure that aligns perfectly with the 17.5 million first graders in 2006. There are several reasons that Chinese demographic data are unreliable. For starters, China’s local governments have a strong incentive to inflate population figures. It could also compound China’s demographic woes by reducing fertility.
