Wokai Blog: China's Urban Dwellers To Exceed Rural Population, Presenting Strain On Cities and Social Problems in Countryside: Wokai China Microfinance Blog

According to Li Bin, director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, China's population is expected to rise to 1.4 billion in 2015, including 200 million people over the age of 60.

This is via the Washington Post:

"China was traditionally an agrarian society, but a booming economy driven by industrial growth over the past three decades has drawn millions of young workers to coastal cities in search of factory jobs and opportunities.

The government is now trying to attract industries to its inland provinces, where many rural villages and towns are populated largely by grandparents and young children. By increasing job opportunities closer to workers' homes, Beijing hopes to reduce the strain on cities and improve the social situation in the countryside.

Demographers say that in the next few decades, China's population will begin to shrink in part due to a government policy limiting many families to one child. At that time, the country may find itself with too few young workers to support an aging population."

Wokai's borrowers in rural Sichuan and Inner Mongolia are receiving the training, support, and loan capital they need to remain in the countryside and develop their opportunities there instead of migrating to the cities. But the infrastructure needs to exist on a much larger scale if the effects are to be felt across China.