Henan |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Henan Province 2. Area: 16,700 square kilometers 3. Population: 92.56 million (the 2000 population census) 4. Provincial Capital: Zhengzhou 5. Geography: Henan Province is between 102° 21' E - 116° 39' E longitude and 31° 23' N - 36° 24' N latitude. It is in the temperate-subtropical zone and humid--semi-humid zone, and has a monsoon climate. It neighbors on Hebei, Shandong, Anhui, Hubei, Shaanxi and Shanxi. 6. Natural Resources: Henan Province is rich in land resources, mineral resources, and plant and animal resources, but much of the resources per capita are lower than China's average. More than 100 types of minerals have been found, 74 of them have proven reserves, 26 types are among the first eight in importance in China, and 12 types are among the first three. Aluminum, bauxite, gold and silver are the four major mineral products of Henan Province. There are many places of interest and historic sites in Henan, so tourism resources are rich as well. 7. Economy: In 2000, the gross domestic product of Henan was 513.766 billion Yuan, and the per capita gross domestic product was 5,444 Yuan. The total financial revenue of the local government was 24.647 billion Yuan, and the total expenditures were 44.553 billion Yuan, the total investment in fixed assets was 147.572 billion Yuan. Henan is one of the country's main industrial crop production areas. 8. People's life: At the end of 2000, there were 55.72 million employed, and 7.18 million staff and workers. The unemployed population in cities and townships was 214,000. The average wage of staff and workers was 6,930 Yuan. The per capita annual total living expenditure in rural households was 1,315.83 Yuan. The per capita annual consumption expenditures of urban households was 3,830.71 Yuan. The per capita living floor space was 14.39 m2 for people living in urban areas and 23.14 m2 for those in rural areas. The outstanding amount of savings deposit in urban and rural areas at the end of the year totaled 318.2 billion Yuan. The number of health institution beds per 1,000 persons was 2.15, and number of doctors per 1,000 persons was 1.20. 9. Education: Higher education in Henan is developing rapidly, and is now beginning to take shape. Elementary education is developing steadily, and the structure of secondary education was rearranged. By the end of 2000, there were 52 higher education institutions in Henan Province, with the number of students enrolled being 262,400 and teachers 20,200; 7,002 secondary schools with 7,195,800 students enrolled and 424,800 teachers; 41,269 primary schools had 11,306,300 students enrolled and teachers 459,300. However, the overall situation is lagging behind; educational funds per capita for primary school students are in last place in the country, and for secondary school students, next to the last. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution Henan has a large population; the total population in 2000 was 92.56 million. The population density is high and there are 554 persons per 10,000 sq.km; the distribution is uneven, there are fewer people in the western parts, and more in the eastern. The proportion of the population urban is low. The urban population is only 23.20% to total population and rural population is 76.80 to total. The population of minorities has increased quickly. 2. Population History The process of population development in Henan can be divided into five periods since the establishment of the new China: 1949 - 1958 was the period of fast population increase, about 850,000 annually during this period; the first peak of fertility in Henan since 1949 was observed; 1962 - 1973 was the period of rapid population increase, with an annual rate of 27.65 per 1,000, or an average of 1.43 million people annually; also, during this period, the second peak of fertility was observed; 1974 - 1977 the speed of increase slowed down with the absolute number increasing by 1.1 million annually; 1978 - 1985 was the period of steady increase with an annual rate of 14.17 per 1,000, or a 1.11 million increase annually; 1986 - 1990 The population increased rapidly, with the annual increase rate being 19.33 per 1,000, or an average of 1.6 million annually. 1990 - 2000 The population increasing was stable. The natural growth rate was 7.14 per 1,000. 3. Population Structure by Sex and Age On the whole, the sex ratio of the Henan population is normal, although it is higher than normal in the young age group. In the year of 2000, the sex ratio was 106.58. The population aged 0 - 14 made up 25.94% of the total; 15 - 64 made 67.10% of the total; and population aged 65 and above made up 6.96%. The proportion of children is decreasing and the population of working age is increasing; such an age structure is beneficial to population and economic development. 4. Fertility Level and Changes Fertility changes in Henan experienced two peaks and two troughs. At present, it is in the third peak of births. An obvious fertility difference exists between different age groups and between rural and urban areas. Fertility of those below the legal marriage age was low, and the fertility pattern changed from almost natural to control. According to a population projection, the size of the natural increase in the population will decrease gradually until the middle of the next century. The total population will still increase in the province, but will not go beyond 130 million. The crude birth rate was 13.07 per 1,000 in the year of 2000. 5. Mortality and Life Expectancy Mortality changes of Henan's population experienced four periods: a sharp-decrease period, a fluctuating period, a slow decrease period and a steady period. The mortality curve changed from a U-shaped to a J-shaped pattern. Infant mortality has gone down quickly and mortality among those of working age is low on the whole; mortality among the elderly is high as would be expected. The mortality rates in different areas of the province are quite different. In 2000, the mortality in Henan province was 5.93 per 1,000. After the founding of the People's Republic, the average life expectancy rose rapidly with a sharp decrease in the mortality rate. Life expectancy was 69.96 years in the 1990s. Female life expectancy is higher than that of males in every age group. There are differences in life expectancy between rural and urban areas. The major causes of death among adults are cancer and heart disease. 6. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type Marriage is stable in Henan; the majority of the population is married; only few are divorced and the proportion of the divorced population is low. There were more widowed females than males among the population aged 40 and above; the difference enlarged as age increased. The increase in family size was faster than the increase in family households before the 1980s, then was slower after the 1980s. Family type is the same in rural and urban areas on the whole; the majority of families are nuclear, families are becoming smaller and smaller. In 1990, the average size of family households was 4.22, but in 2000, it was 3.65, down 0.57. 7. Aging of the Population The aging process in Henan is rapid; and the speed of rural population aging was faster than that of the urban population. In 2000, the population aged 65 and above was 6.44 million, making up 6.96% of the total. According to projections, 1990 - 2009 will be a period of aging initiation; 2010 - 2030 will be a period of accelerated aging; 2031 - 2050 will be the peak period of aging. In 2050, the total aged population will be 28.35 million in the province, making up 24.4% of the total population. 8. Population Quality Educational undertakings in Henan province have seen great progress since 1949. The illiterate population is declining whereas those with an education are increasing. In 2000, the total population illiterate was 5.43 million, with the illiteracy rate being 5.87%. The education level of the employed population in service industries is higher than in secondary industry, and in secondary industries it is higher than in primary industry; the education level of males is higher than females; and that of the urban population is high than the rural. The education level in Henan is low on the whole; the illiterate population is relatively large. 9. Migration and the Floating Population With reform development, migration size and mobility size have been enlarged. The proportion of in-migration caused by marriage has been decreasing, but that caused by persons trying to find a job or do business increased. The sex ratio of migrants has changed considerably, and their education level has improved. Among the in-migration population, the proportion working in agriculture declined. The main reasons for mobility are finding jobs, doing business, and training; the mobile population is composed mainly of people aged 18 - 35 who graduated from junior secondary school or senior secondary school. In-migration size is small and the proportion of in-migration caused by finding a job or doing business is also small, because Henan is a less developed province. The migration pattern is not expected to change in the future. 10. Population, Resources and the Environment Henan Province makes good use of resources, improving the environment not related to production. Large population size and fast population growth put great pressure on land use; there was overuse of forest resources; thus aggravating environmental pollution. |
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III. Family Planning |
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History Period of family planning initiation (1956-1966) The family planning work of Henan was initiated in 1956 when it was under the leadership of the Provincial Department of Public Health. The idea of fertility regulation spread among the masses following a publicity month from July to August in 1957. In July 1963, the Provincial Family Planning Commission was established in cities and counties. From 1963 to 1966, the focal point of work was in urban areas while only some experimental sites were established in rural areas. During this period, three fields were stressed in the work: publicity about fertility regulation, rewarding volunteers using contraception and providing necessary technical support. Period of carrying out family planning on a large scale (1971-1978) In 1971, the Provincial Family Planning Office was established. The Provincial Family Planning Commission was re-established later in 1973. In this period, a series of policies were made to promote "later marriage, longer spacing and smaller family size", "one child for one couple", and "two children with 4~5 years of spacing." The supply and distribution of contraceptives were also improved. New era of family planning (1979-1993) After 1979, the Family Planning Leading Groups were established at all levels with main local officials as the leaders. The provincial government decided to set up the Responsibility System of Population Management, which required that population growth should be put into the whole plan of social development. Meanwhile, the investment increased annually and all relative organizations and offices were established. In 1979, the Population Association was founded, as was the Family Planning Association in 1982, which did much work through effective cooperation with family planning departments. During this period, policies and regulations on family planning were issued and perfected step by step, an education and publicity network was established to further carry out family planning work. Many other measures such as "integrated approaches", family planning insurance and so on were also taken to enhance the work. Major Achievements
Rapid population growth has been controlled. With the decline in fertility, the crude birth rate also dropped gradually from 25.49 per 1,000 in 1971 to 11.31 per 1,000 in 2000.
Consequently the total dependency ratio declined and the percentage of labor-age population rose, which ensured adequate labor resources for economic development.
The norm of "late marriage and later, fewer and healthier births" was adopted. As to the parity-specific birth rate, the proportion of one-child births rose rapidly while that of two-child births dropped gradually.
Since 1971, the population birth rate has been decreasing gradually and smoothly, and population development has entered a virtuous circle. The great achievements of population control have created a favorable environment for social development. It also eases the burden of people, enhances financial accumulation and has an obvious beneficial result on the social and economic development of the whole province. |
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