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Basic Figures
- Name: Sichuan Province
- Areas: 480,000 square kilometers
- Population: 85.64 million
(residents with
household registration, as at end 1997)
- Capital: Chengdu City
- Geography:
Sichuan is located in southwest China, between 97o21" -
110o21" of ease longitude and 26o03" - 34o19" of north latitude.
Sichuan is situated in the central subtropical zone and borders
provinces of Hubei, Hunan, Guizhou, Yunan, Tibet, Qinghai, Gansu and
Shaanxi.
- Natural
Resource: Sichuan has a rich land resource, ranking fifth
among the provinces in China. However, the per capita land area in the
province is low because of the large population, which has been one of
the major challenges for the province. The province is rich in its
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 area of forest in China, and has rich grassland
and animal resources. One hundred and twenty three kinds of mineral
resources have been discovered. It is also rich in water
transportation, coal, natural gas and biological energies. In addition,
the natural and man-made landscapes in Sichuan have also contributed to
the exploitation and development of the local tourism resources.
- Economy:
In 1997, the provincial GDP reached RMB 332 billion Yuan and
the gross output value of industry and agriculture reached RMB 486.5
billion Yuan. However, the per capita GDP was only RMB 4,048 Yuan due
to the large population. The total volume of imports and exports was
US$ 2.7 billion. The total revenue was RMB 17.3 billion Yuan. The grain
yield was 35.5 million tons.
- People's
life: According to the year-end statistics of 1997, Sichuan
has a total labor force of 53.68 million people, accounting for 63.7%
of the total provincial population. The utilization rate of the labor
force resource is 86.0%. The total wage of staff and workers amounts to
RMB 38 billion Yuan and the total insurance and welfare for both the
currently employed and the retired staff and workers reaches RMB 13
billion Yuan. The net per capita income of farmers is RMB 4,732 Yuan
and the average money wage of staff and workers is RMB 5,626 Yuan. The
per capita disposable income of urban residents is RMB 4,732 Yuan. The
average consumption level is RMB 2,050 Yuan, with RMB 1,555 Yuan for
rural residents and RMB 4,470 Yuan for urban residents. The number of
hospital beds and medical workers per ten thousand people is 23.1 and
34.1, respectively.
- Education:
According to the year-end statistics of 1997, Sichuan has 42
institutions of higher learning with a total number of 140,451
in-school students and 16,786 teachers; 4,637 secondary schools with a
total number of 2,985,859 in-school students and 210,318 teachers; and
46,917 primary schools with a total number of 8,270,855 in-school
students and 330,212 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
economy and education.
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II. Population Situation
1.
Size and Distribution
Sichuan is a large province in China in terms of population size. Its
total population is 85.6 million in 1997 and ranks third after Henan
and Shandong Provinces. The Sichuan population is characterized by high
density and extremely uneven distribution, with more population in the
east and less in the west. 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 population of agricultural households is high. Sichuan is
also characterized by the many groups of ethnic minority population,
which is widespread and has been increasing rapidly. Of the 56 ethnic
minorities, Sichuan is home for 53.
2.
Population History
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, the population
development in Sichuan has been quite fluctuating. The development 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 - end 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 - 1962, which saw a negative population growth in the
province. Phase 3 was from 1963 - 1975, which was the second peak
period of the population growth. During this period, the net population
growth was 2.29 million, or 2.95 percentage points. Phase 4 is from
1976 - present, which is a slow growth period. During this period, the
population growth rate has notably declined as compared to phase three.
In summary, the population reproduction of Sichuan has transformed from
the type of high birth rate, low death rate and consequently high
growth rate to the type of low birth rate, low death rate and
consequently low growth rate, and 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 does not show big fluctuations. The sex ratio has
been in the range of 102 - 108. 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
1997, of the total population of 85.64 million, 19.96 million were aged
0 - 14, accounting for 23.31% of the total population; 58.86 million
were aged 15 - 64, accounting for 68.72% of the total population; 6.82
million were aged 65 and over, accounting for 7.97% of the total
population. The total dependency ratio was 45.51%, and the dependency
ratio of the young and of the elderly was 33.92% and 11.59%
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 1997, the
birth rate of Sichuan was 15.75‰ and the rate of population natural
increase was 8.75‰. According to the demographic projections of high,
medium and low variants, Sichuan population will be increasing
unceasingly in the remaining years of this century and in early years
of next century. According to the projections, there is a high growth
period during the 1990s, with the rate of natural increase exceeding
10‰. In the last decade of the present century, the net increase of
Sichuan population will reach around 10 million.
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, the narrowing of the gap between urban and
rural mortality in the younger age groups, male mortality higher than
female. Among the ethnic minorities, the Yi and the Tibetan people have
a higher mortality. The mortality of illiterate population is higher,
and the mortality of married people is low. The mortality in Sichuan
declined from 20‰ in the early stage after the founding of the People's
Republic of China to 7‰ in 1997.
Based on the
data on population mortality and
infant mortality in 1936, it was estimated that the life expectancy
then in Sichuan was 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, the
Sichuan life expectancy at birth had reached 64.4 years of age, which
further increased to 69.7 years of age in 1997. It is estimated that
the life expectancy at birth will reach 70.3 years of age in year 2000.
6. Marital
Status, Family Size and Type
As the 1990 national population census indicated, the single population
concentrated at ages lower than 24 years and early marriages were
increasing; single men outnumber single women; the proportion of
lifetime celibacy is high; notable regional and ethnic disparities
exist in terms of single population; proportion of single population in
urban areas is higher than rural areas; proportion single is higher in
ethnic minorities than in Han people; proportion married is higher in
women than in men higher in urban areas than in rural areas; proportion
widowed is higher in women than in men higher in rural areas than in
urban areas; proportion widowed is also higher in illiterate and
semi-literate people; proportion widowed differs notably between
occupations; proportion divorced increases with age; the differentials
in divorce between urban and rural areas are evident; proportion
divorced among college graduates is higher. In 1997, Sichuan had a
total population of 65.679 million who were 15 years of age and over,
of which 32.995 million were males and 32.684 million females. There
were 6.933 million single men and 4.095 million single women. There
were 23.571 million men of first marriage who had a spouse and 24.616
million women of first marriage who had a spouse. There were 636
thousand men of remarriage who had a spouse and 732 thousand women of
remarriage who had a spouse. There were 339 thousand men who were
divorced and 269 thousand women divorced. 1.516 million men were
widowed and 2.972 million women widowed,
In terms of
family size and type, Sichuan sees a
smaller household size in the economically developed regions and a
larger household size in regions where the economic development is
backward and ethnic minorities live in compact communities. The
structure of households of different size concentrate and proportion of
large households is low. The 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 family between urban and rural areas
differs remarkably. In 1997, the average household size was 3.44 in
Sichuan.
7. Aging
of Population
From the indicators derived from the 1990 national population census,
the population in Sichuan is approaching the elderly type of
population. The number of the elderly is unceasingly increasing 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 issues of elderly people facing the province more
serious and complicated.
In terms of
the age structure of the elderly
population, 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‰ among
the
elderly population.
8.
Population Quality
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, especially since
the opening up and reform, notable changes in the population structure
of education have taken place in Sichuan. According to the 1949
statistics and data from the 1964, 1982 and 1990 national population
censuses, the trend of the population structure of education is
characterized by an rising number and proportion of people with medium
and high educational attainment and a declining number and proportion
of illiterate and semi-literate population. Educational attainment is
higher in urban areas than in rural areas. However, proportion of
population of high educational attainment is low and the average
educational attainment is low.
9.
Migration and Population Floating
Sichuan is a big region in terms of its inter-provincial out-migration.
The main reasons for inter-provincial out-migration include large
population and less land in the province, and the regional disparities
in economic development that have caused large amount of out-migration
for working and doing business. While work transfer, marriage,
accompanying family members, study and training, those who go to live
with relatives or friends, work and doing business, job assignment,
enrollment and retirement are the main reasons for inter-provincial
in-migration. A larger inter-provincial out migration 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
is 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 Environment
Because of the large population and the 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 exploring resources and the
environment to an extent that the worsening of the environmental
pollution and resource shortage has accelerated with the increasing
population. The population burden has contained the economic
construction scale and the development speed. The deterioration of the
environment has counter actively exerted constraints on the survival of
the people.
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