![]() ![]() ![]() "We all have one child, they are all busy working and looking after their children and they wouldn't consider our ageing issues," 64-year-old retiree Song Ying says. READ: Three-child policy - China lifts cap on births in major policy shift The policy was relaxed in 2016 and this year, China allowed families to have up to three children. They joke that they stay active in order to live to a ripe old age, but also readily admit that it is also because they do not want to burden their children.Ĭhina implemented a one-child policy for decades to curb a rapidly growing population. ![]() It's been estimated that a third of China's population will be older than 60 by 2050. In 2019, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences warned that state pension funds could run out as early as 2035. Sixteen per cent of the population in the northeast is above the age of 65 – about three percentage points higher than the national figure. It's just not as fast."Īdding further strain to the northeast's moribund economy is China's rapidly ageing population. "But I don't think it's developing as quickly as other parts of China, like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou. "They are still talking about revitalising northeast China and there are things that they are doing," said Mr Shi of the government's ongoing efforts. Many have attributed the underperformance to the dominance of inefficient state-owned enterprises, dubbed zombie companies that are being kept alive only by government investments. READ: China's ruling party censors its past as centenary nears Last year, the economies of Liaoning, Heilongjiang and Jilin grew at 0.6 per cent, 1 per cent and 2.4 per cent respectively – either far below or only slightly above the country's overall 2.3 per cent GDP expansion. The northeast's economy accounted for about 14 per cent of the nation's gross domestic product in 1978. "You had to depend on yourself and not only did you have to ensure you had an income, you also had to do that for other people. "I needed to go into business and it was not like in the past where the company would arrange for you to work," said Mr Shi. While Mr Shi was spared, he said it was a confusing period for many. Resources were focused on China's southern regions, like Shenzhen and Guangzhou, which for the northeast, meant falling demand for heavy industries and a series of worker layoffs. This switched China from a centrally planned economy to one that embraced market forces, a move that would completely transform the country and turn it into the economic powerhouse it is today. Things started to change in the 1980s when then paramount leader Deng Xiaoping embarked on his reform and opening up campaign. Today, the region is known as China's rust belt. READ: Marking centenary, China heralds Communist Party's influence "It was an old industrial base, which at the time provided resources around the country with the region's steel, coal … but now it can't sustain it anymore." "One felt very proud (to be a worker) because those in the northeast were the 'eldest' and the south didn't have any heavy industries," he said. To Mr Shi, the northeast's most glorious period was the 1950s. ![]()
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