Rapid Population Change In China, 1952-1982 (report / Committee On Population And Demography)

The remarkable changes in fertility, nuptiality, and mortality that have occurred in the People's Republic of China from the early 1950s to 1982 are summarized in this report. Data are based largely on the single-year age distributions tabulated in the 1953, 1964, and 1982 censuses of China and a major 1982 fertility survey. In 1982 the People's Republic of China carried out a census with a more comprehensive interview schedule than ever before employed in China and using a very large, carefully chosen, and extensively trained field staff. The census was preceded by pilot surveys to test the instruments and field procedures. A tabulation of 10 percent of the individual returns has been completed, published in China and made available abroad in limited circulation. Also in 1982 a fertility survey covering a very large sample of households (total population of more than 1 million) was conducted in China, and its results have been published in great detail in a special issue of the Chinese journal Population and Economics. In addition, the distribution of the population by sex and single years of age as enumerated in the censuses of 1953 and 1964 has been recently released. This new information, supplemented by time series of registered births and deaths and end-of-year population totals extending back to the 1950s and by data from other large recent surveys, provides a sound basis for constructing an accurate and detailed history of the remarkable changes in fertility, mortality, and marriage that have occurred in China since the People's Republic was established. Ansley J. Coale. Bibliography: P. 87-89.