Qinghai |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Qinghai Province 2. Area: 720 square kilometers 3. Population: 5.18 million (the 2000 population census) 4. Provincial Capital: Xining 5. Geography: Qinghai Province lies in the northeastearn part of the Qinghai-Xizhang High Plateau, bordering on Gansu, Xinjiang, Xizhang and Sichuan provinces. Most areas of the province are mountainous and at high elevations, and the province is also the source of the Yangzie River and the Huanghe River. Qinghai was named because of its large inland salt lake, Qinghai Lake. The province is naturally divided into two parts by Riyue Mountain, with a pastoral area in the west and agricultural area in the east. 6. Natural Resources: Qinghai is rich in minerals. To date, about 120 types have been found, among which oil, natural gas, potassium, table salt, nonferrous metals, coal and iron are the richest. In addition, Qinghai takes advantage of its rich hydropower, salt lake resources, vast farmlands and grasslands, agricultural and animal products, and tourism resources. Also Qinghai is rich in wild animals of high value, and has many kinds of crude drugs such as musk, pilose antler, Chinese caterpillar fungus and so on. 7. Economy: In 2000, the gross domestic product (GDP) of Qinghai was 26.312 billion Yuan, and the per capita GDP was 5,068 Yuan, the gross industrial and agricultural output value was 19.857 billion Yuan. The total imports and exports were worth 159.74 million US dollars, total provincial government revenue was 2.626 billion Yuan, and the yield of grain was 827,000 tons. The whole provincial economy developed at a rapid rate. 8. People's life: According to the result of a sampling survey, in 2000, the per capita annual disposable income of urban households was 5,170 Yuan, while the per capita net income of rural residents was 1,490 Yuan. The total wages of staff and workers was 5.11 billion Yuan, and the average wage of staff and workers was 9,316 Yuan. The average housing space in urban areas was 12.71 m2, and in rural areas 15.32 m2. A total of 364,000 employees have joined the basic old age support insurance. The number of hospital beds per 10,000 persons was 31.89, and the number of doctors per 10,000 persons was 28.80. 9. Education: In 2000, there were 8 institutions of higher education, with the number of students enrolled being 13,307 and 2,107 teachers; 15 specialized secondary schools had 13,406 students and 1,363 teachers; 448 secondary schools had 224,660 students and 16,645 teachers; 3,429 primary schools had 504,800 students and 27,706 teachers. The school-age children enrolment rate was 94.20%, and the number of college students per 10,000 persons was 25.69. The enrollment rate of school-age children was94.20%. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution According to the 2000 population census, the total population in Qinghai Province was 5.18 million, making it one of the provinces with the smallest population, larger only than that of Tibet. Although the base number of the population increased gradually, the overall trend of the increase rate was stable. The population density of Qinghai was low on the whole, but it is higher in the east and lower in the west. The uneven distribution of the population is mostly the result of regional differences in the natural environment and economic development level. In 2000, The population density was 7.2 persons/sq.km., which is lowest in the provinces except Tibet. The urban population was 1.80 million and 3.38 million in rural, accounting 34.76% and 65.24% to total respectively. 2. Population History There has been a great growth in the population of Qinghai since the foundation of the People's Republic. There are distinct features: the population increased quickly at a high rate; the Han population grew mainly because of migration while natural growth played a dominant role in the growth of the ethnic population; the urban population and non-agricultural population increased more quickly than the rural population and agricultural population, and apparent urbanization was observed. There was mainly a natural increase during the early 1950s with a high birth rate, high mortality and high natural growth rate. The net population increment during the period 1950 - 55 was 249,000 with the annual rate being 3.2%. In this period the birth rate was around 34 per 1,000 and reached 44 per 1,000 in 1954. Mortality was above 10 per 1,000 in the 1956 - 1959 period. There were a total of 1.1162 million immigrants during the four years. Population growth became negative in the early 1960s, with a net decrease of 550,000 people. The period 1963 - 1977 was one with a high birth rate, smoothly decreasing mortality rate and high natural growth rate. The population kept increasing for 15 years. From 1978 up to now, the speed of population increase slowed down with the decline in the birth rate and natural growth rate. The birth rate in 1978 was 26.15 per 1,000 and the natural growth rate was 19.49 per 1,000 lower than that of the mid 1970s. In the middle of the 1980s, the birth rate declined below 20 per 1,000 for four years, and the natural growth rate remained below 6 per 1,000 for seven years. In 2000, the birth rate was 19.25 per 1,000, and the natural growth rate was 13.10 per 1,000. They were still the highest in China. 3. Population Structure by Sex and Age The sex ratio of Qinghai in 1990 was the seventh highest in China. In recent years, however, it had changed much. The sex ratio in 2000 was 107.06 while it was 107.64 in 1990. That means it is decreasing toward a reasonable level. The sex ratio at birth in 1997 was 103.39. Except for being 100.74 in 1993 and 113.53 in 1996, the sex ratio at birth was in a reasonable range in the 1990s. But it declined by 10.14 in 1997 compared with the previous year, the biggest change ever seen. Among the 2000 population of 5.18 million, the population aged 0 - 14 numbered 1.38 million, or 26.62% of the total; the population 15 - 64 years old numbered 3.58 million, or 69.05% of the total; and the population aged 65 and above was 0.22 million, or 4.33% of the total population. The total dependency ratio was 44.69%, with the ratio of children being 38.554% and of the aged 6.15%. The age structure is changing from the young age to adult pattern. 4. Fertility Level and Changes According to the 1990 fourth national census, there were 1.2041 million women of childbearing age in 1990, accounting for 27.02% of the total population, and the births in 1989 totaled 104,700 with a birth rate of 23.70 per 1,000. The total population in 1990 was 14.41% larger than that of 1982, i.e. 3.8957 million, with an increase of 70,200 on average. There were 27.57% more women of childbearing age in 1990 than in 1981, i.e. 918,300, with the annual increase being about 31,700. The birth rate in 1981 was 26.65 per 1,000 which was decreasing at the rate of 1.46% annually. The TFR declined from 4.02 children per woman in 1980 to 2.59 in 1990. But recently the birth rate has been bouncing back. In 1997, the birth rate was 79.29 per 1,000 more than that of 1995; also the first-parity birth rate was higher than the second-parity birth rate, and the higher-parity birth rate did not change. In addition, the proportion of high-parity births remained high. In 2000, first-births made up 61.90% of the total births, second-births made up 28.82% and third-births and above 9.28%. The birth rate was 19.25 per 1,000 and the natural growth rate was 13.10 per 1,000 in 2000. 5. Mortality and Life Expectancy Compared with 1981, the proportion of persons who died at young ages declined while that of the older age group increased in 1989; the infant and child mortality rates experienced a great decline. Male mortality was higher than that of females; the mortality rate of the ethnic population declined sharply; the mortality rate of the population living above the altitude of 4,000 meters rose while that of people living below that altitude dropped. The mortality rate of Qinghai declined from 13.98 per 1,000 in 1950 to 6.15 per 1,000 in 2000. The average life expectancy in 1981 was 60.79 years, 59.78 for males and 61.79 for females. In 1990, it was 60.57 years, 59.29 for males and 61.96 for females. 6. Marriage Status, Family Size and Type According to the 1990 fourth national census, the population aged 15 and above was 3.086 million, or 69.25% of the total provincial population. Of that group, 1.612 million were males and 1.474 million were females, accounting for 52.22% and 47.78% respectively of the total. The currently married population accounted for 64.16% of the population aged 15 and above, and the size of the divorced population and the widowed population was very small (4.96% and 1.16% of the total respectively). The never-married proportion of the population in urban areas was higher than that of rural areas, while the proportion divorced and widowed in rural areas was higher than that of urban areas. There were more never-married males than females; the proportion of married males, widowed males and divorced males was less than that of females. In 1999, among the 35.87 million population in the 15 and above group, unmarried people accounted 20.46%, the first marriage having spouses people accounted 69.84%, the non-first marriages having spouses people accounted 2.51%, the divorced people accounted 1.59%, and the widowed people accounted 5.63%. In 1990, The households comprising a total of four people made up 20.59% of the total households; five people 18.71% and three people 17.51%. The families were mainly a two-generation structure, making up 61.96% of the total households; and three-generation and above households made up 19.44% of the total. One-couple households and single-person households made up 4.51% and 3.06% of the total. In 1990, the average size of family households was 4.66 persons, but it was 3.95 in 2000, down 0.71. 7. Population Quality Compared with 1990, the education level of the Qinghai population improved gradually. The proportion of the population with a college education and above rose from 1.49% in 1990 to 3.30% in 2000, senior-secondary education from 8.28% to 10.43%, junior-secondary education from 17.76% to 21.66%, primary education from 26.49% to 30.94%. But all of these indicators are far below the national average. In 2000, the illiterate population was 0.93 million and the illiterate rate was 18.03%, but they were 1.23 million and 27.70% in 1990. Among the employed, 2.72% of them had an education at the college and higher level, 34.65% had a secondary education, and the proportion illiterate and semi-literate as well as those with a primary education was 62.63%, all of which implies that there is a long way to go to improve the education level of the Qinghai population. 8. Migration and the Floating Population From 1950 to 1990, 1.2623 million people migrated to Qinghai, and 0.7485 million out-migrated. The population moved for various reasons: the transfer of coastal factories, resource exploitation, wasteland reclamation and cultivation, retiring from the army to find a job, or to look for a new job. During the five years from 1985 to 1990, 1.342 million people migrated, in average of 227,000 annually. Of that number, 1.022 million were inter-provincial migrants and 302,000 intra-provincial migrants. This showed a high level of migration within the province. Most of the migrants flowed to cities, i.e. 77.11% of the total migrants. In 2000, the net migration rate was 1.80 per 1,000. 9. Population, Resources and the Environment The population explosion not only limited the development of the economy, but also imposed large pressures on the environment and resources. It was observed that as a result of population growth, the area of soil-drainage was extended, forest coverage decreased, grasslands degenerated, desertization continued, the areas of rivers and lakes decreased, and agricultural resources were approaching their limit. Faced with these difficulties, it was clear that effective measures should be taken to control the growth of the population and to protect the environment through administrative, economic and legal ways. |
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III. Family Planning |
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Family planning work in Qinghai was initiated in the 1950s, developed in the 1970s and perfected in the 1980s and later. Publicity in general In 1956 and 1957, the Department of Public Health, Department of Commerce and the Women's Federation of the province met to arrange publicity activities on fertility regulation, including an exhibition and seminar for promoting knowledge about contraception. Exhibitions on fertility regulation and healthy births were organized, family planning lectures were given in workshops, people's fertility and birth desire were investigated, more education was given to those who had more children and a heavier family burden. In 1963, the Family Planning Leading Group was formed. In 1965, the Department of Public Health and Fertility Control Leading Group issued a notice to declare that there were no fees for fertility regulation for individuals, which greatly enhanced the development of family planning work in the middle of the 1960s. However, the work was stopped from the beginning of the "Cultural Revolution". Period of Initiation of Family Planning Family planning offices were established in Xining City and several other counties and some large enterprises were staffed with professionals in 1971. In 1973, the "Report on family planning and its development in Qinghai" first called for publicity of fertility regulation in pastoral areas. In 1974, "Suggestions on several problems of the family planning program" stated that "small family size, late marriage, longer spacing and better education", "two children per couple, with four year spacing; women of childbearing age who have three and more children should control births" and so on. In 1979, "Regulations on the Population Plan and Family Planning (draft)" was issued by the provincial government. It was the first standard document about family planning and it greatly enhanced the development of the family planning program. Period of Forming Policy and Establishing Organizations The provincial government issued "Qinghai Regulation of Family Planning Trial Implementation", which opened a new era of regular management for family planning. In 1981, the Family Planning Leading Group was renamed as the Provincial Family Planning Commission. Statistical staff and professional personnel were then introduced into the frontline of family planning work. Period of Steady Progress The provincial government issued the "Qinghai Family Planing Regulation" in 1986 and in the same year the Qinghai Contraceptive Distribution and Management Station was established. In 1989, the Publicity and Education Center of Family Planning was founded. In 1991, eight decisions were made regarding the strengthening of the family planning work. There were also many other measures such as basic contraceptive knowledge training, introduction of advanced technology and the establishment of contraceptive distribution stations. In 2000, the family planning rate was 85.68% and contraceptive prevalence rate of married women was 86.89%. The Progress of Family Planning among Ethnic Populations Specific measures were taken to ensure the smooth practice of family planning among the ethnic populations. In addition, good results were achieved depending on the participation of local leaders, religious personnel and activists creating family planning publicity and educating the people. During the period of 1982 - 1990, the natural growth rate of the ethnic population was 2.54% annually, much less than the 3.48% rate in 1964 - 1982. The total fertility rate of the ethnic population declined from 5.28 in 1982 to 3.47 in 1990. Intensive Cooperation and Comprehensive Administration Comprehensive measures have been taken to relieve the concern of the people about the future and to enhance the progress of family planning through the combined efforts of different departments. These efforts include providing family planning insurance, connecting the family planning program with the poverty-alleviation program, and educating people on the new concepts about childbearing. The Great Role of Non-governmental Organizations Since the foundation of the Population Association of Qinghai in 1982, it has published a plethora of articles and books on population and family planning, which have disseminated Marxist population theory and provided a series of reasonable suggestions to decision makers. In 1988, Qinghai Family Planning Association was established and has made great contributions to the progress of the family planning program. |
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