1. Name: Guangdong Province
2. Areas: 177.901 thousand km²
3. Population:70.1373 million (registered population by the end of 1997)
4. Provincial Capital: Guangzhou City
5. Geography: Guangdong is one of the provinces on the south end of the mainland of China, and includes the mainland part and many islands. It is in the tropical and subtropical monsoon climate zone. Guandong is by the Nanling mountain range, and neighbors on Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangxi and Fujian, and borders on the southern China Sea in the south.
6. Natural Resources: Guangdong province is abounding in aquatic products, the fresh water cultivatable area in the whole province is 425.7 thousand hectares, and seawater cultivatable area is 775.7 thousand hectares. Guangdong has quite a lot of types of minerals, up till now, there are 128 types of minerals found, including 89 types of proved reserves, and most are nonferrous metal.

　

7. Economy: In 1997, the gross domestic product of Guangdong was 731.551 billion yuan, the per capita gross domestic product was 10,248 yuan. The gross industrial and agricultural output value was 1134.46 billion yuan. The total imports and exports were 130.12 billion US dollars; total provincial government revenue was 54.395 billion yuan; the yield of grain 19.6675 million tons.
8. People’s Life: By the end of 1997, Guangdong had labor force of 45.901 million people, and 37.019 million employed. The total wages of staff and workers was 85.835 billion yuan, and the average wage of staff and workers was 9,698 yuan. The per capita annual disposable income of urban households was 8,561.71 yuan, and the per capita net income of rural households was 3,467.69 yuan. The per capita living floor space was 16.97 m² for urban areas and 23.78 m² for rural areas. The average household consumption was 8108 yuan. The number of hospital beds per 1,000 persons was 2.06, and number of doctors per 1,000 persons was 1.48.

　

9. Education: By the end of 1997, there were 42 higher education institutions in Guangdong, with number of student enrolment 174,700 and teachers 16,900; 4795 secondary schools with number of student enrolment 4,612.3 thousand and teachers 235.6 thousand; 24,700 primary schools with number of student enrolment 9,113.4 thousand and teachers 346.4 thousand. The school-age student enrolment rate is 99.77%.

Guangdong is one of the provinces with large population. Its total population in 1997 was 70.1373 million, the 5th of China only next to Sichuan, Henan, Shandong and Jiangsu. The population density differs from high to low along with the terrain from low to high; The density is higher in plain, lower in the mountainous areas, higher in the middle, east and west, lower in the north. The province is intensely populated in the south and east part, sparsely populated in the north and west part; the population density increases from inland area to coastal area. Urban areas are intensely populated while rural areas are sparsely populated.

The population Development of Guangdong experienced five phases since the liberation. 1949-1958 was the period of fast population increase with an annual rate of 2.66%. The first baby boom appeared in this period. 1959-1961 was the period of slow population increase with an annual rate of 1.16%. 1962-1970 the second baby boom was observed in this period and the annual increase rate was 2.6%. 1971-1979 in this period, the population growth rate declined rapidly and the annual increase rate was 1.8%. This period was a turning point of the total population development. 1980-1989 was the period of planned population growth and the increase rate was 1.6%, much lower than that of most periods.

The sex ratio of Guangdong population increased gradually since 1949: 100.86 in 1949, 102.4 in 1953, 102.5 in 1960, 103.9 in 1964, 104.80 in 1982. It was since 1990 that the sex ratio declined; it was 104.80 in 1990 and became 102.64 in 1995.

In 1997, population aged 0-14 was 20,509; 15-64 population was 45,850 and the population at ages of 65 and above was 5,220. The total dependency ratio was 56.12% with the ratio of children 44.73% and of aged 11.39%.

Since 1949, the fertility of Guangdong has been declining from 37.60‰ in 1950 to 21.96‰ in 1989, and the total fertility rate decreased from 6.12 in 1957 to 2.49 in 1989. Since 1990s, it kept declining though the province experienced the third baby boom and the total women of reproductive age increased. The total fertility rate was 2.48 in 1990, while in 1997 the birth rate was 16.90‰, and the natural increase rate was 11.50‰. According to population projections in 3 scenarios of high, medium, and low, the total fertility rate will decline to 1.9 in the next century and the birth rate will be between 13.65 and 12.95‰.

The mortality of Guangdong kept declining since the liberation, much lower than the national level and among the provinces with low mortality. The mortality is 15.00 per thousand in 1949, 5.92 per thousand in 1980. Since 1990s, the mortality bounced back slightly, 6.17 per thousand in 1992 and 5.40 per thousand in 1997. The life expectancy of Guangdong (including Hainan) was 71.29 in 1981, 68.53 for males and 73.74 for females, and it was 73.59 in 1989, 71.12 for males and 76.60 for females.

In 1997, among the total 51.071 million population aged 15 and above, males were 25.406 million and females were 25.664 million. The never-married males were 7.244 million, females 5.445 million; the currently-married males of first marriage were 17.012 million, females 17.450 million; the currently-married males of second marriage were 251 thousand million, females 281 thousand; the divorced males were 171 thousand and females were 84 thousand; the widowed males were 728 thousand and females were 2,403 thousand.

Since 1982, the family size declined gradually. The family structure presented a “smaller in the two ends, larger in the middle” patterns. The seven-person and above households decreased and the three-or-four-person households increased rapidly. This means that the family size of Guangdong is becoming smaller.

In recent years, with the strengthening of population control, the number of newborns decreased and the life expectancy prolonged which resulted in the aging of population. It was estimated that among the 70.5115 million population, population aged 0-14 were 20.20 million, made up 28.65 % of the total; the population of 65 and above were 5.14 million, 7.29% of the total. Compared with 1995, child population decreased by 940 thousand, 2.28 percentage point lower. Instead the old population increased by 250 thousand and the percentage raised 0.17. According to the standard of 7%, Guangdong’s population has become an old one. This change of age structure has two results: one is the rich labor force, which makes pressure on employment. In 1997, the total labor force of Guangdong reached 40.26 million, made up 57% of the total population. The other is the old age support issue. In 1997, the total dependency ratio was 44.73% with 11.39% for old population aged 65 and above. Faced with the aggravated old-age problem, it is demanded to build up and perfect the social support system for elderly. Meanwhile the role of family in old age support should be emphasized alike.

Under the strategy “Rejuvenating the Province through Science and Education”, since the 90s, the education level of Guangdong population improved rapidly. The educated population increased from 53.47 million in 1995 to 57.37 million in 1977, and the percentage increased from 78.2% to 81.36%. At the same time, the population of illiteracy and half illiteracy decreased from 5.34 million to 4.84 million, and the total illiteracy rate declined from 7.81% to 6.86%. In 1990, the college-illiteracy ratio was 12.86%. The increase of educated population, especially of higher education population provides an excellent foundation for the development of information and technology industry of Guangdong.

Guangdong has been one of provinces with frequent migration and mobility. During the five years from 1985 to1990, the intra-migration and inter-migration took the first place in all the provinces of China. The direction of migration was from neighboring provinces, inland provinces and remote mountainous areas to Zhujiang River Delta; the rural population moved towards urban areas. The main reason of migration in recent years is doing business and labor work in cities, which is quite different from that before Opening and Reform. Marriage migration, job transfer, going and seeking refugee with relatives and friends, accompanying migration and so on were main reasons for migration at that time.

Guangdong is one of the provinces with poor resource and serious environment problem. As a result of excessively rapid population growth and the low education level, the pressure imposed by population on the environment heightened. To meet the demand of increasing population, the environment and resources were overexploited and destroyed. The heavy population burden delayed the economic construction and social development, while the deterioration of environment in return endangered the survival of people.

In 1956, the Provincial Department of Public Health issued “Seven-year short term plan and twelve-year long range plan on health of women and children” and “project on contraceptive work of Guangdong”, which explained the reason and methods to conduct fertility regulation, including some detailed regulations. In 1957, the publicity movement of fertility regulation was carried out in urban areas under the leadership of the government, and it also spread to rural areas. To meet the demand of local people, contraceptive clinics were established in many city hospitals. However, the work was stopped by during 1959-1961.

In 1963, the economy recovered and the fertility bounced back. In this year, the birth rate raised to 43.31 per thousand, and the natural increase rate was 33.93 per thousand. The fast growth of population drew the attention of the provincial government and the family planning work was put into the agenda again. First, correspondent organizations were established; second, policies and regulations were enacted; third, publicity of fertility regulation was carried out; fourth, technical personnel and teams were formed; fifth, experimental points of family planning were built up in some rural areas. In the late of this period, the family planning work was interrupted by “Culture Revolution”, and the population growth returned to a state out of control.

In 1969, the Provincial Family Planning Leading Group was established again, so were local family planning offices. In 1979, the provincial family planning office was established and did much work in deepening the family planning and popularizing typical experiences. In 1971, Guangdong promoted family planning policies as “two children for one couple with 4-5 year spacing and later marriage.” From 1978 to 1979, “Regulation of Family Planning Trial Implementation of Guangdong” and “Complementation Regulation” were issued and the population growth was put into the national development plan. In 1978, the Population Association of Guangdong and the Institute of Population Research at Guangdong Academy Social Science were established subsequently.

After the new “Marriage Law” was enacted, family planning became an obligation of each citizen, and in 1982, it was defined as one of the basic state policies. Since then, the family planning work entered into a new era. During this period, the family planning work was carried out progressively under plans, and the idea of fertility and marriage of people was changed. All the efforts resulted in the fast decrease of birth rate from 22.4 per thousand in the early of 80s to 21.2 per thousand in the late 80s. In 1992, the birth rate declined to 20.0 per thousand for the first time and it continued to decline to 18.34 per thousand in 1993.

1. The fast population growth has been controlled. In 1950s, the annual birth rate was above 33 per thousand, and in 1960s it was above 32.5 per thousand . Since 1970s, as a result of effective family planning work, the birth rate began to decrease from 31.3 per thousand in 1971 to 18.34 per thousand in 1993; the natural increase rate declined also from 25.79 per thousand in 1971 to 12.50 per thousand in 1993. The reproductive pattern of population has changed from “high fertility, high mortality, low increase rate” to “low fertility, low mortality and low increase rate”.

2. The family planning policy has brought about a beneficial result. It was estimated that the annual birth population by the end of 1993 would be 1.5709 million if the birth rate of 1970’s 32.5 per thousand had continued, but the actual annual birth population were 1.2288 million, 342.1 thousand adverted annually. During the 24 years, the total adverted births were 16.5390 million, which greatly relieved the heavy population burden on social and economic development.

3. The age structure changed. In 1953, the age structure of Guangdong was between young and old type. In 1970s, it became an adult type. In 1990s, however, the population entered into an era of aged population.

4. The ideas of marriage and fertility of people have been changed. According to statistics, the mean age of first marriage for female in 60s was 20.39, while the male’s was 24.34. In 80s, it was 22.24 for female and 25.18 for male. In 1990s, it became 24.2 for female and 27.5 for male. In 1970, the late-marriage rate of female was 21%, and it became 70.42% in 1993. The old habit of early marriage and early child-bearing has been changed and the idea of fertility control has been widely accepted.

1. “Yearbook of Guangdong Statistics”, edited by China Statistical Publishing House, 1998
2. “China’s Population Across The Century (Guangdong)”, China Statistical Publishing House, 1994
3. “Guangdong Population Information”, 1997,4
4. “China’s Population of 97”, edited by Population, Society, and Science Department of State Statistical Bureau, China Statistical Publishing House, 1998
5. “China Population Yearbook”, 1998

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