Urban numbers 'to outstrip rural population' in China

An official newspaper is reporting that China’s urban population is expected to top 700 million in the next five years, exceeding the number of rural dwellers for the first time.

A China Daily report today cited Li Bin, head of the country’s population policy agency, as saying that by 2015, China’s population was projected to reach 1.4 billion.

That would include 200 million people over the age of 60.

Even with a policy limiting many families to one child, China has the world’s largest population.

Its explosive growth in the last few decades can be attributed in part to the large number of young workers, many of whom left their farms for jobs in the cities.

In the years to come, there may be too many old people in China and not enough workers to support them.