Lost to the wave of declining birth rate! China has 17 million fewer students below junior high school in 5 years

中國少子化衝擊校園，官方10日指出，2021年到2025年間，幼兒園、小學及國中在學人數共減少將近1700萬人。這階段學齡人口急速萎縮，迫使政府調整教育資源配置，因應一段歷史性的人口縮減時期。

Bloomberg and Hong Kong Ming Pao reported on the 10th that Huang Weiru, deputy director of the Department of Social Development of the National Development and Reform Commission of China, pointed out at a press conference on the 10th that during China's "14th Five-Year Plan" (i.e., the 14th five-year planning period, 2021 to 2025), China's kindergarten, primary school and junior high school students will decrease by nearly 17 million. The school-age population in these education stages has reached its peak, but the high school and higher education school-age population continues to increase.

She said that the government will promote small class teaching, reuse idle school buildings, etc., optimize resource allocation, and respond to the decreasing trend of the total school-age population. At the same time, in response to changes in the school-age population structure, it will increase the number of high school and university student places, and improve the opportunities for children of migrant workers who follow their parents to work in cities to enter public schools.

China's population has been decreasing year by year since 2021. According to statistics from the Ministry of Education, there will be approximately 189 million students in kindergartens, primary schools, and junior high schools in 2025. At the same time, last year's birth rate fell to the lowest since at least 1949, and the population over 65 years old hit a new high, exceeding 223 million.

人口緊縮將為經濟帶來壓力，進一步考驗北京緩和消費和投資所受衝擊的能力。 At the same time, China's leadership is also facing challenges in funding pensions and social welfare brought about by an aging population. As the workforce shrinks, it will become increasingly difficult to maintain these expenditures. In addition, encouraging young couples to increase their desire to have children is also a major problem.