The effects of china's large population

The Effects of China’s Large Population

With the rapid development of science and technology, population and development have further become important issues, which are the general subjects of international community. By the end of 2008, China has reached a population of almost 1.35billion (excluding the population of Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan Province), accounting for about 21% of the world’s population. China has the largest and one of the densest population in the world. Although it offers the country abundant labor resources and broad markets, an excessive population also brings negative effects. China’s large population is undoubtedly the primary factor in causing these following problems and contradictions.

For one thing, an excessive population brings about a series of social issues. First, it restricts economic growing seriously. An unbalanced development has appeared in China for a long time. Economic disparities between different regions are increasing. China’s GDP stands at a high point in the world, but the amount on average still stays at a low level. Besides, an aging population has already affected the society. Stress on welfare becomes greater because of large expense on pension benefits and medical security. As a result, outlay on national defence budget will be influentially reduced. What’s more, populace which contains different minorities and religions will easily cause conflicts and contradictions, which can hinder the progress towards harmonious society. Finally, it’s hard for everyone to benefit from education, China’s lower quality of population leaves a negative image on many foreigners. That is another factor which inhibits development of the country.

In the second place, most environmental problems are closely associated with a large population. Chinese need huge requirements on food, accommodation and resources. Thus, trees are cut down and rivers are filled up with soil for farmlands and houses. People get water, coal, metal and other natural resources from underground, mountains and sea. Shepherds graze animals without limits. Consequently, we are facing water shortage and desert expanding. On the other hand, a large requirement leads to a large consumption consistently. Foul water, exhaust gas and waste solid deeply destroy China’s natural environment. As time goes on, we will continue to see how the environmental degradation impacts our country if we don’t change the way we live. Because of the large population, it’s really a tough work to accomplish environmental governance. Everyone should take action to protect the natural world.

Last but not least, the large population affects every person’s daily life, even the livelihood. First, traffic is susceptible to congestion. Private cars easily get suck in traffic block for long at rush hour. Public transportation such as trains, buses and subways gets increasing crowded. All above make it inconvenient for us to go around and travel. Moreover, it’s also very difficult to find a job due to a great deal of job-wanted persons today. The young, especially graduates, are suffering great pressure. In addition, residents have difficulty in entering schools and hospitals for education and treatments. We always keep waiting in endless queues for hours to get tickets or register. The worst thing is that many people can’t afford the high costs today. Housing and commodity prices become prohibitive in cities, which leaves citizens breathless with stress.

It is clear that the population is rising at a rate which is fairly alarming. Overpopulation is the most important factor that impairs China’s economic and social development. Therefor, the measures of population control should be taken as priority. Since the introduction of one-child policy, the fertility rate in China has fallen from over three births per woman in 1980 to about 1.8 births in 2008. In total, with one-child policy, the Chinese government estimates that it has three to four hundred million fewer people in 2008 than it would have had otherwise. With efforts made by the whole nation and the international cooperation, China’s population and development are surely going forward to a new stage.