Too many, too few: A file photo of women pushing a toddler on a stroller as they tour the Qianmen shopping street with lantern decorations in Beijing, on Jan 12, 2026. China’s population stands at 1.404 billion today, down three million from the previous year. — AP
From ancient times until today, an enormous population has been a foundational way for China to project its strength.
But anxiety about managing so many mouths has always loomed. “China has a population of 600 million people, and we must never forget this fact,” Mao Zedong said in 1957.
