2023-05-05 06:45:06
In a gymnasium, pensioners keep in shape by playing table tennis: once a Chinese city “model” of the one-child policy, Rudong today has one of the oldest populations in the country. This coastal town, located north of Shanghai, has seen its population slowly evolve since the 1980s… to the point that the over 60s now represent 39% there – against 18.7% nationally. A sign of this demographic revolution: a former abandoned school is now overgrown with weeds, while a local university offers specific courses for seniors.
China has officially just been overtaken by India as the most populous country in the world, according to the UN. China’s population began to fall last year for the first time in six decades. In Rudong, at the end of an alley surrounded by dilapidated buildings, the clatter of balls echoes in the local table tennis club, where the seniors are numerous. “A lot of people come to keep in shape. It’s better than staying home playing cards!”which is the usual occupation here, says Fu Yaping, 56, who founded the club in 2011.
Exodus of young people
Her son left Rudong to find work in town. A usual phenomenon in China in recent decades but which contributes to emptying the countryside and small towns. “He has a child”explains Fu Yaping about his son, who however does not intend to have a second one. “It’s too much of a burden these days”she explains in reference to the cost of education.
Member of the club, Mr. Zhu, a sixty-something retired from the telephone operator China Telecom, underlines the difficulties for young Chinese in the face of the job market. “It’s not like our generation. At the time, the jobs were allocated” by the state, he says. “Now people have to find one on their own.” Rudong is a laboratory of the demographic challenges facing the country. The problem is particularly critical here, where the aging of the population is coupled with an exodus of young people.
The total population is around 880,000, according to a 2021 census – around 116,000 less than the previous one. China launched its birth control policy in the late 1970s to stem a population explosion. Launched from 2016, various successive relaxations have allowed all couples to now have three children. But their benefits are slow to be felt.
Thirsty to learn
The fertility rate was still very low last year in China, at only 1.2 children per woman. The aging of the population weighs on young Chinese, as they are often only children and therefore forced to take care of elderly members of their family without the help of siblings. The increase in the number of elderly people also puts pressure on the health insurance and pension system. In China, it is common for seniors, especially those in poor shape, to move in with their children. Residents of Rudong explain that they absolutely want to stay in shape in order to avoid this scenario.
“As long as we are in good health, our children are less stressed”explains Wang Jianhua, 67, playing croquet. “So if we participate in these activities, it’s for us, but it’s also for them.” On her bike chatting with a classmate, Ms. Ping, 74, is fresh out of a local university where she has come to quench her thirst for learning. “Because of the Cultural Revolution, we didn’t go to school at the time”, she explains of the period of political turmoil between 1966 and 1976, when many young people were sent to the countryside to learn the peasant way of life. She now takes classes in Chinese literature and opera. “We have fun and at the same time, we learn things”says Ms. Ping. “We still lead a full life.”
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