Hebei |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Hebei Province 2. Area: 190,000 sq. km 3. Population: 67.44 million (2000 population census) 4. Provincial Capital: Shijiazhuang City 5. Geography: Hebei Province is in northern Huabei Plain, to the north of the lower Yellow River and to the west of Bohai Sea with a coastline about 500 km long. It is between longitude 113° 27' E - 119° 50' E. and latitude 36° 3' N - 42° 4' N., bordering on Liaoning, Inner Mongolia, Shanxi, Henan, and Shandong provinces. 6. Natural Resources: Hebei ranks 14th in land resources in China, but with its large population, the resources per capita are poor. There are over a thousand utilizable species of plants, and animal species make up 25 percent of China's total. By the end of 1989, 106 types of minerals had been found in this province. Hebei's marine resources are rich and there are many locations that attract tourism. 7. Economy: In 2000, the gross domestic product of Hebei was valued at 508.896 billion Yuan, and the per capita gross domestic product was 7,663 Yuan. Total imports and exports were valued at 52,350 million US dollars; grain output was 2.55 million tons. Hebei has a long history of agriculture, and is one of the important areas for production of grain and cotton in China. Animal husbandry and fisheries are also important components of the economy. The industrial sector developed greatly after the 1950s, Hebei is currently a major industrial base for coal, steel, and textiles. 8. People's life: In 2000, the wages of staff and workers totalled 443,300 million Yuan; total social insurance and welfare funds of employed and retired staff and workers were 12,820 billion Yuan. The per capita net income of rural residents was 2,478.86 Yuan. The average wage of staff and workers was 7,781 Yuan, and the per capita annual disposable income of urban households was 5,661 Yuan. The average consumption was 1,365.23 Yuan for rural residents and 4,348.47 for urban residents. The number of hospital beds was 168,900 thousand, and the number of doctors was 201,200 thousand. By the end of 2000, the per capita using house space in the urban area reached 15.4 square meters, in the urban area reached 22.9 square meters. 9. Education: By the end of 2000, there were 47 institutions of higher education in Hebei Province, with number of students enrolled being 244,000; 4,910 secondary schools and 36,465 primary schools. The Hebei population is characterized by an increasingly educated population and a decreasing rate of illiteracy. The enrollment rate of primary-school-age pupils was 98.73 percent. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution The total population of Hebei Province in 2000 was 67.44 million, China's 6th largest. Population density was 346.5/km2. The density is higher in the south and middle, lower in the north and west, higher in the plains, and unevenly distributed in the mountains and hills. Population density is highest along the Beijing-Guangzhou railway line and Beijing-Shanhaiguan highway. The rural population is larger than the urban population. 2. Population History The population of Hebei has more than doubled since the 1950s. The process can be divided into five periods: The period 1950 - 57 was one of rapid increase of the total population with an annual rate of 2.19%, or about 730,000 annually; in 1958 - 61, there was a trough in population increase; in 1962 - 72, population growth bounced back and a peak in fertility was observed. The net population increase during the 11-year period was 9.3248 million, the average being 847,700 annually; in 1973 - 81, the speed of increase slowed down to the annual rate of 1.33%, or 587,400 annually.In the 5th period, from 1982 to the present, population growth swung back with 795,000 additional people annually; the net increase during the last 16 years was 12.7204 million. 3. Population Structure by Sex and Age Since 1949, the sex ratio of Hebei has increased gradually and smoothly to around 102 - 106 on the whole. It was 103.67 in 2000 for the provincial total population. However, there is an uneven distribution of the sex ratios: Yanshan Mountain and Taihangshan Mountain have high sex ratios. In 2000, out of a population of 67.44 million, the population aged 0 - 14 was 15.23 million, or 22.82% of the total; the population 15 - 64 was 70.32% of the total (46.93 million); and the population aged 65 and above was 4.58 million, or 6.86% of the total. 4. Fertility Level and Changes Overall fertility in Hebei has gone from high to low. The highest total fertility rate was 7.33 in 1963, decreasing gradually to 2.48 in 1990. This change is mainly the effect of economic and social development, and implementation of the family planning policy. In 2000, the birth rate in Hebei was 11.30 per 1,000, natural increase rate 5.09 per 1,000. According to population projections in three scenarios, high, medium, and low, the population of Hebei will still increase early in the next century; the natural increase rate will be not less than 7 per 1,000 by the year 2010. 5. Mortality and Life Expectancy Mortality decreased sharply since the establishment of the People's Republic, much earlier than the decrease in the birth rate. The mortality rate dropped from 12.73 per 1,000 in 1949 to 6.21 per 1,000 in 2000, remaining below the national average. The infant mortality rates experienced a great decrease. Currently, the male mortality rate is higher than that of females. The average life expectancies during 1929 - 33 were 40.03 years for males and 35.76 for females in Hebei; in 1990, they were 70.01 and 73.60 years respectively, or an average of 71.70. Hebei experienced a mortality transition from high mortality and low life expectancy before 1949 to low mortality and high life expectancy, close to the levels of developed countries. 6. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type According to the fourth national census taken in 1990, the never-married population proportion decreased, making it lower than that of the national level and among the lowest of all provinces. The sex ratio of the never-married population was high, which means that there were more unmarried males in the province. There appeared to be a "low, high, low" bow-shaped pattern among the never-married population proportion by age. The rate of early marriage increased among young adults. The proportion currently married increased; it is higher for females aged 60 and younger than males of the same age, higher in towns than in cities, and higher in cities than in rural areas. There were more widowed females than males; the size of the widowed population is positively related to age. The rate of widowhood was low in rural areas and high in towns, with cities being in between. As the rate of widowhood decreased, the ratio of male to female widowhood decreased. Divorce rates increased as age increased, with that of males being higher than females and the difference increased gradually. There were obvious differences between rural and urban areas, and among different areas. In 1997, of the 49.365 million population aged 15 and older, there were 24.806 million males and 24.559 females. Among them, there were 5.122 million never married males and 3.706 million never married females; there were 18.404 million first-married males, and 18.701 million females; remarried males numbered 263,000 and females 373,000; divorced males numbered 209,000 and females 83,000; widowed males totalled 808,000 and females 1.696 million. The size of family households has been decreasing; regionally the average family is smaller in the north and larger in the south. According to 2000 population census, The medium household size is 3.57 persons, mainly in two-generation nuclear families. 7. Aging of the Population According to the 2000 census, the population aged 65 and older reached 4.5785 million in Hebei, comprising 6.86% of the total population. The aged population increased rapidly, and is still increasing. The median age and life expectancy of the elderly are rising, and the dependency ratio for the aged population is also rising, which makes the dependency burden heavier for the working age population. By 1990, As for the distribution of the aged population, there were more people in the lower ages: those the in 65 - 69 age group were 61.82% of the total, those in the 70 - 79 age group comprised 30.00% of the total, and people who were 80 years and older made up 8.18% of the total aged population. Most (72.52%) of the aged population was illiterate or semi-literate. Most of the aged population had been married. Their employment rate was 29.78%. 8. Population Quality The 2000 census shows that the education level of Hebei's population improved greatly over earlier periods; the proportion of people with an education increased, and the increase was more obvious for higher education levels. The proportion illiterate among the population aged 15 and older was 9.55%. The average years of schooling increased, and was higher in urban areas. 9. Migration and the Floating Population Hebei has the second highest level of internal out-migration size; Sichuan Province has the highest rate. The main reason for out-migration is to find a job or do business; the other reasons are job transfer or living with relatives. Finding a job or doing business, study or training, and marriage are the main causes of in-migration. Marriage, job transfer, and following the family are the main reasons for in-migration from other provinces. 10. Population, Resources and the Environment The burden of resource shortages has been increasing because of the increase in population growth. The conflict between people' s needs and resource shortages is intense and the result is environmental pollution. Hebei is mainly agricultural; urbanization is relatively low. It is important to control population effectively, to utilize resource appropriately, and especially important to protect the environment. |
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III. Family Planning |
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History Period of Fertility Control Publicity (1953 - 58) In 1954, the Fertility Control Leading Group was formed to provide technical consulting to people who had the need for fertility regulation. The Provincial Government issued "Instructions about Publicity of the Fertility Regulation Movement". Local people welcomed the publicity about fertility regulation. The work was stopped due to criticism about controlling population size. Period of Family Planning Initiation (1963 - 66) The Provincial Family Planning Commission was established in 1963, under the Public Health Department. The first provincial family planning meeting was held in the same year, and family planning work was planned at that time. In 1964, the Commission separated from the Public Health Department as a government organization with its own operating budget. The Provincial Government issued the "12-Year Plan of Hebei Family Planning (draft)" in the same year. The Plan suggested promoting later marriage and later childbearing, and promoting contraception for couples having two or more children. Some regulations for fertility control were also made at that time. The family planning work was interrupted by the "Cultural Revolution" in 1966. Period of Carrying Out Family Planning on a Large Scale (1971 - 78) Starting in 1971, population concerns were put into the provincial plan. The State promoted "later marriage, longer spacing, and smaller family size (wan, xi, shao)" in 1973, as the policy of family planning. The Provincial Government organized experience exchange activities in the province to promote family planning. Leting County, Dingxian County, and Nangong County were among the best counties nationally. During this period, family planning was extended to rural areas. Family planning publicity and education reached every village and household; family planning organizations at the grassroots level were established, and training of technical personnel was carried out. The Provincial Family Planning Research Institute was established in 1977 to strengthen research. New Era of Family Planning (1979 - 93) In 1979, the State issued the "Regulation of Family Planning Trial Implementation" to promote the one-child per family; the family planning policy evolved from the "later, longer and smaller" slogan the early 1970s to "later marriage and later, fewer, and healthier births". The Provincial Government issued the "Hebei Province Family Planning Regulation" in March 1989 to implement family planning policy. Period of Steady Progress (1994 to the present) Starting from 1994, the Provincial Government has been looking for new approaches in family planning under the market economy, which includes "integrated approaches" and "three emphases", strengthening management in urban areas, expanding services and improving the quality of care. More progress has made since then. A grassroots family planning worker, Jiang Shuqin, became a national model in family planning. Major Achievements
More couples understand that late marriage and later, fewer and healthier births not only benefit the family and its happiness, but also benefit society and the state. Therefore, they practice family planning voluntarily. The average age of first marriage in the province was 17.84 years in 1949 rising to 22.2 in 1992. The higher parity birth rate decreased from 17.69% in 1979 to 1.03% in 1997.
The average annual total fertility rate was about 5.3 in the 1950s and 1960s. TFR was 3.37 in the 1970s after family planning services were popularized. The rate was 2.37 in the 1980s and 1.93 in the early 1990s (1990-92).
The birth rate has been decreased from 29.66 per 1,000 in the 1950s (1949-57) to 19.30 per 1,000 in the 1980s, and decreased again to 13.11 per 1,000 in 1997. If the fertility level had remained the same as in 1970, there would be more than 20 million additional babies born during the period 1971-93 in the whole province.
In the past 50 years, population development in Hebei has changed from high fertility, high mortality, and low natural increase to high fertility, low mortality, and high natural increase, and then later to low fertility, low mortality, and low natural increase. The population transition affects the population structure. In 1964 the second national census found that the proportion of the population 0 - 14 years old was 40.65% in Hebei; in 1982 the third national census found that it was 30.78%; further decreasing to 29.03% in the 1990 fourth national census and 22.82% in the 2000 population census. It started to become a more adult population. |
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