China’s Population Shrinks for First Time in Six Decades

China’s population fell to 1.41 billion in 2022, a decrease of 850,000 people compared to the previous year, the country’s statistics bureau announced (Bloomberg). The population last shrunk in 1961, the final year of a historic famine. The country’s falling birthrates echo patterns underway in Japan and South Korea. They also present a long-term challenge to China’s economic growth and the funding of its pension system. Sixty-two percent of Chinese people are of working age, down from 70 percent a decade ago.

The contraction comes despite government efforts to stem the declining birthrate (NYT), including cash handouts to mothers and the scrapping of a one-child limit. Many Chinese women have opted not to have children due to the financial cost, the New York Times reported.

Analysis

“As in [Japan,] [China’s] government tinkering failed to address low fertility rate—requires deep structural change,” the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Robert Ward tweets.

“Whether or not the government can provide widespread access to elder care, medical services and a stable stream of income later in life will affect a long-held assumption that the Communist Party can provide a better life for its people,” the New York Times’ Alexandra Stevenson and Zixu Wang write.

CFR’s Zongyuan Zoe Liu discusses population decline and other challenges to China’s economy.

Pacific Rim

Vietnam’s President Resigns Amid Scandal

The Communist Party of Vietnam accepted President Nguyễn Xuân Phúc’s resignation (Nikkei) amid the party’s crackdown on graft. State media reported that he “took political responsibility” for pandemic-related corruption.

South and Central Asia

Pakistan’s Largest State to Hold Snap Election

The election in Punjab, home to around half of the country’s population, was triggered (Reuters) by an ally of ousted Prime Minister Imran Khan. The former leader has called for early general elections.

Sri Lanka: Seven local and international human rights groups urged authorities (AP) to release prominent student activist Wasantha Mudalige ahead of his court appearance today. He was detained in last year’s anti-government protests.

Middle East and North Africa

Saudis, Houthis Reportedly in Talks to Build On Unofficial Truce

Saudi Arabia and Yemen’s Houthi rebels are in back-channel talks to seek a potential negotiated end to Yemen’s civil war, the Associated Press reported. The two sides have maintained an unofficial truce since October, when they failed to renew a UN-brokered cease-fire.

This Backgrounder looks at the war in Yemen.

U.S./UAE: Despite opposition from activists, U.S. climate envoy John Kerry said he backed Abu Dhabi’s naming (AP) of state oil company chief Sultan bin Ahmed Al Jaber as head of this year’s UN climate talks, citing Al Jaber’s work on renewable energy.

Sub-Saharan Africa

South African Government Announces Measures to Reduce Power Outages

A state energy committee said that the government is developing emergency legislation (Bloomberg) to speed up approval of new power plants, among other measures aimed at easing the crisis.

Burkina Faso: Armed assailants abducted around fifty women (NYT) from villages outside the northern city of Arbinda, officials said. No group immediately claimed responsibility.

Europe

Germany’s Scholz Names Regional Politician as Defense Minister

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz named Boris Pistorius (DW), the interior minister of the central German state of Lower Saxony, as defense minister after the resignation of Christine Lambrecht.

Ukraine/Russia: A Russian strike on an apartment building in the eastern Ukrainian city of Dnipro killed at least forty people (CNN) on Saturday, Ukrainian officials said.

For Foreign Affairs, Oona A. Hathaway discusses how to prosecute the war in Ukraine.

Americas

Venezuelans March for Higher Salaries

Workers across the country held at least fifty demonstrations (Bloomberg) yesterday to call for raises amid rising inflation, the Venezuelan Observatory of Social Conflict said.

U.S./Mexico: The trial of former Mexican public security chief Genaro García Luna begins today in New York (NYT). He is accused of taking bribes from the Sinaloa Cartel.

United States

Biden, Dutch Prime Minister to Talk Chips in Washington

U.S. President Joe Biden is seeking Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte’s cooperation on export curbs (Politico) that would hamper China’s semiconductor sector.

For the Net Politics blog, Chris Miller and CFR’s David Sacks discuss the global war over semiconductors.

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