1. Name: Liaoning Province
2. Areas: 150,000 square kilometers
3. Population: 40.771 million
4. Capital: Shenyang
5. Geography: Liaoning lies in the northeastern part of China, between 181° 53'-125° 46' east longitude, and 38° 43'-43° 26' north latitude, surrounded by Jilin, Inner Mongolia and Hebei, and borders D.P.R.Korea to the east by the Yalu River. Climate in Liaoning is moderate. Ethnic groups living in this province include Man, Mongolian, Korean and Xibo.
6. Natural Resources: A total of 115 mineral resources including iron, magnesite, manganese, nonferrous metals and industrial chemicals have been found in Liaoning, the reserves of which are quite huge. The province also enjoys abundant aquatic products and forest resources with a vegetation coverage rate of 28.7%.
7. Economy: In 1997, GDP of the whole province reached RMB349.006 billion, with a per capita amount of RMB8,525; fiscal revenue totaled RMB73.36 billion; total value of fixed assets reached RMB95.369 billion; and total grain output was 13.254 million tons. Since the implementation of reform and opening up, per capita GNP of Liaoning has increased rapidly, however, its growth rate is lower than the national average level and the economically fast-growing coastal provinces. Therefore, greater efforts should be made to accelerate its economic development while keeping the population growth under effective control.
8. People's life: In 1997, Liaoning had a working population of 19.671 million, of whom 9.694 million were state employees; urban unemployed population totaled 435,000; average wage of staff and workers reached RMB5,591; per capita consumption was RMB3,468. Per capita floor space was 20.7 square meters for rural and 8.0 for urban residents. Savings deposit of urban and rural residents totaled RMB272.74 billion, with a per capita amount of RMB6,690. In addition, there were 43.9 hospital beds and 24.4 doctors and nurses for every 10,000 persons.
9. Education: Education has developed quickly in Liaoning since the founding of the PRC. The proportion of population with various educational levels has changed notably. In 1997, there were a total of 62 institutions of higher learning with an enrolment of 188,159 and a faculty of 23,109; 3,517 secondary schools with 2.385 million students and 177,049 teachers; and 14,386 primary schools with an enrolment of 3.887 million and a faculty of 197,347. The proportion of the illiterate and semi-literate was decreasing. In 1997, these people made up 12.13% of those aged 15 and above. However, the low proportion of people of higher learning is far from meeting the needs of the province's rapid economic development.

In 1997, Liaoning's population totaled 40.771 million, ranking 12th in the country, and the number of households 12.558 million, 11th in the country, indicating that Liaoning was a province with a moderate population scale. Population density was 263 people per square kilometer, 13th in the country, and land area 150,000 square kilometers, 20th in the country.

Over the decades from 1949 through 1997, Liaoning's total population had soared from 18.305 million to over 40 million, with an average of 510,000 added annually, an increase rate of 1.89%, higher than the national average of 1.77%. The rate reached the summit in the 1950s (3.17%). Since then, the rate has been decreasing continuously: 1.98% in the 1960s, 1.23% in the 1970s and 1.19% in the 1980s. In 1990, Liaoning contributed 3.49% to the country's total population, a rate nearly unchanged since 1949.

Sex ratio has decreased steadily over the past decade, with that in 1997 standing at 102.45. The proportion of teenagers decreases continuously while that of the aged increases significantly. According to the sampling survey of demographic change in 1997, population aged 0-14 totaled 7.984 million in the same year, accounting for 18.99% of the province’s total population, with dependency ratio of the young standing at 25.95%. People aged 65 and over numbered 3.233 million, making up 7.8% of the province’s total, with dependency ratio of the aged standing at 10.67%. The change of proportions of the young and aged in the total population indicates that population aging is accelerating in Liaoning.

In the 1950s and 1960s, population growth in Liaoning remained in a natural state, featuring a high birth rate. In the 1950s, the birth rate was the highest in 1954 (44.5 per thousand) when 932,000 people were born, and the highest in 1963 (49.1 per thousand) of the 1960s when 1.28 million were born. However, in the 1970s and 1980s, both the birth rate and number of people born were on the decrease. The birth rate was 26.6 per thousand in 1970, the highest in the 1970s, and 18.9 per thousand in 1982, the highest in the 1980s, both far below the fertility level in the 1950s and 1960s. The birth rate was kept under 20.0 per thousand over the 16 years from 1974 to 1989 and further reduced to 8.9 in 1997. Total fertility rate (TFR) for women decreased by 76.3% between 1964-1989 and reached 1.05 in 1997. Peak fertility rate was 164.6 per thousand and parity-specific peak fertility rate was 163.3, 38.4 and 0.5 per thousand respectively for 1st, 2nd and 3rd and more children. Currently, fertility level of women of childbearing age has remained low in Liaoning.

The change of mortality experienced four periods in Liaoning: 1). 1949-1956. A sharp decrease from over 20 per thousand in 1948 to 10 in 1956. 2). 1957-1961. A slight increase to 17.5 per thousand in 1961, the highest in this period. 3). 1962-1975. A steady reduction to between 5-6 per thousand. 4). 1976-1989. Keeping at a low level of between 5-5.5 per thousand. In 1997, the mortality rate was 5.68 per thousand.

In 1997, first-time married women in Liaoning totaled 230,100, with an early marriage rate of 0.08% and late marriage rate of 64.56%, according to statistics released by family planning departments. A sampling survey of demographic change in the same year shows that Liaoning had 3.368 million unmarried population, 6.63 million remarried currently with spouses, 4.4 million divorced and 1.712 million widowed. In recent years, the proportions of the unmarried and widowed have declined significantly while those of the married and divorced increased slightly. With the social development and change of composition of people at marriage age, the development trend of marriage in Liaoning is healthy and balanced, however, the pace varies.

According to the public security department, by the end of 1997, there were altogether 12.558 million households in Liaoning, with an average household scale of 3.25 persons, and the family is still downsizing, however, at a slower speed.

Population aging in Liaoning had experienced three periods:

(1). 1953-1964. A net of 220,000 was added to the total population aged 60 and over, with an annual increase rate of 1.44%. The proportion of those people in the total population decreased from 6.3% to 5.6%, and the ratio of the aged reduced notably.

(2). 1964-1982. People aged 60 and over increased by a net of 1.134 million, with an annual increase rate of 3.16%, and its proportion in the total population rose from 5.6% to 7.4%. The ratio of the aged continued to go up.

(3). 1982-1990. Liaoning entered the later stage of an adult society and population aging accelerated due to reduced birth rate.

In 1997, people aged 65 and over contributed 8.36% of the province’s total population, with dependency ratio of the aged standing at 11.42%. Currently, there is still a distance towards an aged society, however, the trend of aging is irreversible. By 2000 the proportion of people aged 65 and above may exceed 7%.

Statistics from the public security department reveal that for many years, immigrants have outnumbered emigrants in Liaoning. In 1997, the migration population in Liaoning totaled 1.083 million, of whom 577,000 were immigrants and 506,000 emigrants. Of the 890,000 intra-provincial migrants, 464,000 were in-migrating and 426,000 out-migrating, both increasing significantly. Of the 193,000 inter-provincial migrants, 113,000 were in-migrating and 80,000 out-migrating, with both on the decrease. In 1997, net migration rate reached 1.7 per thousand, of which intra-provincial 0.9 and inter-provincial 0.8.

Enjoying the advantage of abundant natural resources, however, Liaoning is faced with an uneven composition of these resources and population pressure. Furthermore, Liaoning is one of the most polluted areas in China, which directly caused an annual loss of RMB2 billion.

The advocacy of family planning in Liaoning began in 1956 and its development experienced a tortuous process of four periods:

1. Introduction of program in the 1950s.

The population reproduction model changed swiftly from a "high birth rate, high mortality rate and low natural increase rate" before 1949 to a "high birth rate, low mortality rate and high natural increase rate". The birth rate rose sharply to 26 per thousand in 1950 and further to 39.1 in 1954 and 1955. The first national census in 1953 indicates the incompatibility between overrapid growth of population and socio-economic development.

On March 15, 1958, the Birth Control Committee of Liaoning was founded. However, the birth control program that had already started was forced to stop because of the nationwide wrong criticisms directed at Ma Yinchu’s “New Population Theory”. Thus, population growth from the 1950s to early the 1960s was not effectively controlled.

2. Implementation and setback in the 1960s.

After three years of economic difficulty between 1959 to 1961, a compensative baby boom emerged in 1962 and 1963, with the birth rate as high as 53.7 per thousand in 1963. In 1962, in spirit of the Instructions on Promotion of Family Planning issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, family planning was practiced once again in the whole province. In 1963, the provincial government worked out a seven-year plan to limit its population around 30 million by 1970, which had produced remarkable results. In 1964, the birth rate reduced by a large margin and dropped to 21.4 per thousand in 1966. Afterwards, the family planning program suffered a setback due to the Cultural Revolution that started in the second half of 1966. 3. Resumption and development in the 1970s.

In 1972, Liaoning Family Planning Committee was established and a goal was set during the Fourth Five-year Plan period (1971-1975) to keep the natural increase rate at 10 and below 15 per thousand respectively for urban and rural population. Late marriage was also encouraged in this period. Late marriage rate rose from 58.3% in 1973 to 84.4% in 1978. In this period, the birth rate reduced from 26.6 per thousand to 14.4 and the natural increase rate from 21.5 per thousand to 8.9.

4. Further development in the 1980s.

In 1979, Liaoning Family Planning Committee was officially set up and put under the administration of the provincial government. Concrete activities and measures include regular and large-scale publicity campaigns to provide education on the basic national policy; formulating FP policies, laws and regulations; establishing and improving various responsibility systems; strengthening technical services; and ensuring the effective practice of birth control measures. Therefore, since the 1980s, Liaoning has led the rest of the country in many indicators concerning family planning.

Major achievements in family planning include:

(1). Continued reduction of newborns since the 1970s. Population growth slows down year after year. Since the late 1980s, population growth in Liaoning has entered a period of steady development. The birth rate dropped from 26.6per thousand in 1970 to 8.9 in 1997 and the natural increase rate from 21.5 per thousand to 3.2.

(2). Improvements in age composition and population reproduction model. As far as age composition is concerned, the proportion of people aged 0-14 dropped from 45.2% in 1964 to 22.7% in 1993; and that of the working-age population aged 15-64 rose from 51.5% in 1964 to 71.1% in 1993. The proportion of people aged over 65 in the aged population increased from 3.3% in 1964 to 6.3% in 1993. The population reproduction model had evolved from a “high birth rate, low mortality rate and high growth rate” in the 1950s and 1960s to a modern one of “low birth rate, low mortality rate and low growth rate after the 1980s.

(3). Planned population growth. As early as in the 1960s, Liaoning started to draw up plans to control its population growth. In the 1970s, the population plan began to be included in the overall planning of the province’s economic development.

(4). Improved views on marriage and childbearing. It has been a consensus among FP workers and couples of childbearing age that having fewer births is vital to their economic prosperity and national economic development at large.

The implementation of family planning program has brought tremendous benefits to the economy of Liaoning.

1. Statistical Yearbook of Liaoning, 1998, China Statistical Publishing House.2. Chinese Population across the New Century (Vol. Liaoning), China Statistical Publishing House.3. Chinese Population in 1997, China Statistical Publishing House.4. China Population Yearbook, 1998, China Social Science Publishing House.5. China Family Planning Yearbook, 1998.6. Province-specific Atlas of the People’s Republic of China, China Cartographical Publishing House, 1999 edition.

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