Sichuan |
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I. Basic Data |
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1. Name: Sichuan Province 2. Area: 480,000 square kilometers 3. Population: 42.88 million (the 2000 population census) 4. Capital: Chengdu 5. Geography: Sichuan is located in southwestern China, between 97º21' - 110º21' east longitude and 26º03' - 34º19' north latitude. Sichuan is situated in the central subtropical zone and borders the provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and Shaanxi. 6. Natural Resources: Sichuan has a rich land resource, ranking fifth among the provinces of China. However, the per capita land area is low because of the province's large population, which has been one of its major challenges. The province is rich in biological resources, with more than 10,000 kinds of utilizable plants, and ranks second in China in terms of its flora and fauna resources. Sichuan is an important forest area in China, and it has rich grassland and animal resources. One hundred and twenty-three kinds of mineral resources have been discovered. It is also rich in water transport channels, coal, natural gas and biological forms of energy. In addition, the natural and man-made landscape in Sichuan has also contributed to the exploitation and development of the local tourism resources. 7. Economy: In 2000, the provincial GDP reached 401.03 billion Yuan and the gross output value of industry and agriculture reached 563.759 billion Yuan. However, the per capita GDP was only 4,805 Yuan due to the large population. The total volume of imports and exports was US$ 2.55 billion. The total revenue was 23.386 billion Yuan. The grain yield was 35.69 million tons. 8. People's life: According to the year-end statistics for 2000, Sichuan had 54.60 million labor force and 44.36 million employed persons. The utilization rate of the labor force resource was 81.23%. The total wages of staff and workers amounted to 43.69 billion Yuan and the total labor insurance and welfare funds for retired and resigned staff and workers reached 13.87 billion Yuan. The per capita net income of farmers was 1,903.60 Yuan and the average wages of staff and workers was 8,323 Yuan. The per capita disposable income of urban residents was 5,849 Yuan. The per capita consumption of all residents was 2,358 Yuan, with 1,745 Yuan for rural residents and 5,236 Yuan for urban residents. The number of health institutions was 33,351, the number of beds was 191.025 and the number of medical technical personnel was 253,331. 9. Education: According to the year-end statistics for 2000, Sichuan had 42 institutions of higher learning, with a total of 235,470 in-school students and 18,418 teachers; 4,866 specialized, regular and vocational secondary schools with a total of 4,311,603 in-school students and 243,327 teachers; and 43,326 primary schools with a total of 8,026,506 in-school students and 331,551 teachers. The proportion of illiterate and semi-literate population has been declining year by year and it is expected that people with secondary education will account for a major part of the population with the passage of time and the development of the economy and education. The enrollment rate of school-age children was 99.08%. |
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II. Population Situation |
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1. Size and Distribution Sichuan is a large province in China in terms of population size. Its total population was 83.29 million in 2000, ranking the fourth after Henan, Shandong and Guangdong Provinces. The Sichuan population is characterized by high density and extremely uneven distribution, with more population in the east and less in the west. In 2000, the population density was 172 persons/km2. The plane areas have a higher population density and the hilly areas have a higher population proportion. Basins and the lower reaches of rivers are places where the population concentrates. The proportion of city and town population is low and the proportion of the population in agricultural households is high. Sichuan is also characterized by the many groups of ethnic minorities living there who have been increasing rapidly. Of the 56 ethnic minorities, Sichuan is home to 53 of them. 2. Population History Since the founding of the People's Republic, population development in Sichuan has been fluctuating and can be divided into four phases according to the level of population growth, i.e. two peak periods, one valley period and one stable growth period. Phase 1 was from 1949 to the end of 1957, which was the first high growth period in the history of Sichuan population development. During this period, the average annual population growth rate was 2.68%. Phase 2 was from 1958 to 1962, which saw a negative population growth in the province. Phase 3 was from 1963 to 1975, which was the second peak period of population growth. During this period, net population growth was 2.29 million, or 2.95 percentage points. Phase 4 is from 1976 to the present, which is a slow growth period. During this period, the population growth rate declined significantly as compared to phase 3. In summary, the reproduction pattern of Sichuan has changed from the type with a high birth rate, low death rate and consequently high population growth rate to the type with a low birth rate, low death rate and consequently low growth rate. It has undergone four distinct phases of growth, i.e. high growth, negative growth, high growth and then moderate growth. 3. Population Structure by Sex and Age Since 1949, the sex ratio of the total population of Sichuan has been rising gradually, but has not shown large fluctuations. The sex ratio has been in the range of 102 - 108. In 2000, the sex ratio was 106.98. Regional differentials exist in sex composition. The population sex ratio is higher in heavy industry, mineral mining, forest and poor and backward mountainous areas. In 2000, of the total population of 83.29 million, 18.87 million were aged 0 - 14, accounting for 22.65% of the total population; 58.22 million were aged 15 - 64, accounting for 69.90% of the total population; 6.20 million were aged 65 and over, accounting for 7.45% of the total population. The total dependency ratio was 43.06%, and the dependency ratios of the young age population and of the elderly population were 32.41% and 10.65% respectively. 4. Fertility Level and Changes Since 1989, the fertility of Sichuan has been characterized by the following features: (1) the general fertility level is not high, but the volume of birth is large; (2) there have been big rises and falls in the birth levels; (3) the differentials in birth levels between different regions have been notable. Policy, economic, social and demographic reproduction factors are the main causes. In 2000, the birth rate of Sichuan was 12.10 per 1,000 and the natural growth rate was 5.10 per 1,000. Comparison between 2000 and 1990, the growth in persons was 4.93 million, growth rate was 6.29% and annual growth rate was 0.59%. 5. Mortality and Life Expectancy Since 1950, the mortality level in Sichuan has declined substantially. This process is characterized by the declining proportion of deaths, substantial decline in infant and child mortality, mortality pattern approaching the "J" type curve, the narrowing of the gap between urban and rural mortality in the younger age groups, and male mortality being higher than female. Among the ethnic minorities, the Yi and the Tibetan people have higher mortality rates. The mortality of the illiterate population is higher, and the mortality of married people is low. Mortality in Sichuan declined from 20 per 1,000 in the early stage after the founding of the People's Republic to 7 per 1,000 in 2000. Based on data on population mortality and infant mortality in 1936, it has been estimated that life expectancy in Sichuan was then only 31.2 years of age, which was lower than the then national average, i.e. 35 years of age. After the founding of the new China, the mortality level in Sichuan has been declining constantly. By the time of the 1982 national population census, life expectancy at birth had reached 64.4 years of age, which further increased to 69.7 years of age in 1997. 6. Marital Status, Family Size and Type As the 1990 national population census indicated, the single population was concentrated at ages lower than 24 years and early marriages were increasing and single men outnumbered single women. The data also indicated that the proportion of lifetime celibacy is high; notable regional and ethnic disparities exist in terms of the single population; the proportion of the single population in urban areas is higher than rural areas; the proportion single is higher among ethnic minorities than the majority Han people; the proportion married is higher among women than men and is higher in urban areas than in rural areas; the proportion widowed is higher among women than men, and is higher in rural areas than in urban areas; the proportion widowed is also higher among illiterate and semi-literate people; the proportion widowed differs notably between occupations; the proportion divorced increases with age and differentials in divorce between urban and rural areas are evident; the proportion divorced among college graduates is higher than among other population groups. In 1999, among the 63.830 million population in the 15 and above group, unmarried people accounted 15.14%, the first marriage having spouses people accounted 74.57%, the non-first marriages having spouses people accounted 2.17%, the divorced people accounted 1.25%, and the widowed people accounted 6.86%. In terms of family size and type, Sichuan household size is smaller in the economically developed regions and larger in regions where economic development is backward; ethnic minorities live in compact communities. The structure of households of different size concentrations and the proportion of large households is low. Household composition differs notably between urban and rural areas. In terms of family type, two-generation households have a larger proportion, and certain differentials exist in the inter-generational structure in different regions. Differentials in family type are obvious between nationalities, and the inter-generational structure of families between urban and rural areas differs remarkably. In 2000, the average household size was 3.32 in Sichuan. 7. Aging of the Population From the indicators derived from the 1990 national population census, the population in Sichuan is approaching the elderly type. The number of the elderly has been increasing unceasingly and the proportion of the elderly in the population is also rising. The trend is characterized by a rapid aging and an extremely short period of transition in the age structure from an adult type to an elderly type, which has made the issue facing the province regarding elderly people more serious and complicated. According to the 1990 population census, the younger elderly has a higher proportion, i.e. the proportion of the elderly people aged 65 - 69 in the total elderly population was as high as 42.07% and the elderly people aged 70 - 74 accounted for 28.94% of the total elderly population, which added up to 70% of the total provincial elderly population. Elderly people aged 75 - 84 accounted for around 25%, and elderly people aged 85 and over accounted for only around 5%. Of the total provincial elderly population, rural elderly people accounted for 80% of the total. Among the elderly population, 75.38% were illiterate and semi-literate. Most elderly people were widowed or married. The employment rate of the elderly people was 20.18% and the mortality rate was about 50 per 1,000 among the elderly population. In 1990, the population aged 65 and above accounted 5.67% to total population, but in 2000, it was 7.45%. 8. Population Quality Since the founding of the People's Republic, especially since the opening up and reform of China, notable changes in the population structure of education have taken place in Sichuan. According to 1949 statistics and data from the 1964, 1982, 1990 and 2000 national population censuses, the trend of the population structure of education is characterized by a rising number and proportion of people with medium and high educational attainment levels and a declining number and proportion of the illiterate and semi-literate populations. In 1990, the illiterate rate was 17.05%, but in 2000, it was 7.64%, down 9.41%. Educational attainment is higher in urban areas than in rural areas. However, the proportion of the population with a high educational attainment is low; the average educational attainment is low. 9. Migration and the Floating Population Sichuan is a big region in terms of its inter-provincial out-migration. The main reasons for inter-provincial out-migration include the difficulty its large population faces in terms of land availability in the province, and the regional disparities in economic development that have caused large amounts of out-migration in seeking work and doing business. While work transfer, marriage, accompanying family members, study and training, going to live with relatives or friends, work and doing business, job assignment, school enrollment and retirement are the main reasons for inter-provincial in-migration, a larger inter-provincial out-migration population has been formed because of regional disparities in economic development and marriage migration. Within the province, most migrants are rural people, notable differences exist between regions, a large proportion of the migrants are physical laborers, and the main purposes of migration are to marry and to engage in work and business. Besides, emigration is dominating international migration, while international immigrants to the province are very few. 10. Population, Resources and the Environment Because of Sichuan's large population and low overall educational attainments, the population pressure on resources has been increasing. In order to cope with the increasing population and satisfy the ever-rising standard of living, people have been exploiting resources and the environment to such an extent that environmental pollution and resource shortage have accelerated along with the increasing population. The population burden has limited both the speed and the scale of economic construction scale and development. The deterioration of the environment has counteractively exerted constraints on the survival of the people. |
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III. Family Planning |
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Family planning work in Sichuan has undergone a tortuous development process, which can divided roughly into five phases: Phase 1: Conception and partial experiment (mid 1950s - early 1970s) Family planning work in Sichuan started in 1953. In 1955, Sichuan started to gain a deepening understanding of family planning, popularize among the masses knowledge about contraception, and provide technical guidance for those who would like to control their childbearing. In 1963, according to the directives of the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, the Provincial Party Committee of Sichuan established a joint working group consisting of agencies like the Department of Health, the Department of Consultation, the Provincial Women's Federation and the Provincial Communist Youth League. In the same year, the Provincial Party Committee of Sichuan also set up the Leading Group on Family Planning and promulgated a circular called "Comments on Carrying out Family Planning". In 1964, Chengdu Station for Family Planning Technical Guidance was established, which was the first professional institution providing technical guidance on family planning. The Cultural Revolution, which started in 1966, brought the family planning work in the province to a standstill and let childbearing drift. Phase 2: Making great progress (1971 - 1978) In 1971, Sichuan established the Provincial Family Planning Commission and its staff members were listed on the government payroll. Starting from 1972, the rate of natural population increase was formally included in the Provincial Plan for Economic and Social Development. In 1975, the Provincial Party Committee emphasized that the "two productions" should both be regarded as crucial and put forward that agriculture, and the light and textile industries should be promoted while the population growth rate should be reduced. Top party and government officials were asked to be in charge personally, and the cadres should play a model and lead role in this. The province established a training center for technical workers in family planning, a family planning publicity and education center and a family planning research institute, in order to strengthen the family planning related training, publicity, education, exchanges, research and extension of research results in southwestern China and the province. Phase 3: Deepening development (1979 - 1987) In 1979, Sichuan was selected by the State Family Planning Commission as one of the first provinces in China to implement international cooperation projects on population control. In 1981, the Provincial Family Planning Commission summarized and disseminated the "Three Three" experience based on the practice. In 1987, the Provincial People's Congress adopted the "Sichuan Provisional Regulations on Family Planning", which was implemented province wide. Phase 4: New horizons (1988 - 1993) During this period, Sichuan strengthened its family planning work, which was characterized by a practical, classified and comprehensive strategy. More importance was also attached to the construction of three networks, i.e. administrative management, publicity and technical services, and family planning associations. More attention was also paid to the timely summing-up and use of the successful and typical experiences so that the family planning work could be pushed forward in full scale. Phase 5: Steady development (1994 to present) Since 1994, Sichuan has been actively exploring new ways and methods of better carrying out family planning work under the circumstances of reform, opening up and socialist market economy. The province has also been implementing conscientiously the strategy of "three firsts" and "three integration" and combining family planning work with rural economic development and has made efforts to enable the masses to become better-off. The province has broadened the field of family planning services and improved work performance on an overall basis. The province fulfilled the state-assigned population plan during the third baby boom. In 1996, Sichuan held a provincial meeting to exchange theory and experience in implementing the strategy of "three integration" and carried out a campaign of building up "model villages". Since 1997, the party committees and the government in Sichuan at various levels have been working hard and the strategy of "three integration" has been implemented in a sustained and healthy way. Publicity and education have been strengthened. The province has been actively supporting the local family planning associations in their innovative initiatives. Since the founding of the People's Republic, especially since the 1970s when family planning was further promoted, the family planning work in Sichuan has achieved remarkable success:
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