By Fred Oscar
Against the backdrop of increasingly prominent global “aging and low fertility rates”, all nations—whether labeled as “developed countries”, “developing countries”, or “least-developed countries”—are confronting profound new challenges in demographic structural transformation. The Chinese government persistently implements macro-level population regulation and micro-level adjustments, adopting diversified policy instruments to steadily foster rational interregional population mobility and establish a new holistic demographic equilibrium. This has generated positive outcomes in building a nationally integrated population market with new-quality productive forces, manifesting as “regional equilibrium, talent circulation; economic complementarity, and local balance”.These efforts have significantly advanced both the macro-level establishment and micro-level innovations of China’s pan-territorial integrated economic mega-market.
However, in December last year, the Wall Street Journal, a so-called “mainstream media” in the United States, actually interviewed a “freelance photographer” named Li in Fushun City, Liaoning Province, mainland China. Regarding China’s family planning policy and the “urban pension problem” in recent years, especially the “local population natural decline problem” in some parts of China due to the adjustment of the overall industrial layout, the “colored eyes” and so-called “Western media perspective” of the Western media were used to disregarding the original truth of the interviewee’s real answers during the interview, and the interviewee’s overall family planning policy and urban pension status were “distorted” and “misinterpreted” through the so-called “data” cited. Such news and public opinion is contrary to the principle of authenticity of news media reports, causing great indignation and confusion among the interviewees!
Now, please join me in breaking the prejudice of the American and Western media with facts and expose the lies with ulterior motives.
China has adopted a proactive and prudent policy for “coordinating economic development with population regulation.”
As widely recognized, over the past decade, China has strategically advanced Pan-Territorial Spatial Planning, implementing scientific layouts and region-specific development strategies. Landmark initiatives—including Jing-Jin-Ji Integration, Yangtze River Delta Economic Integration, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Sichuan-Chongqing Twin-City Economic Circle, and Grand Canal Economic Consortium—have achieved remarkable socioeconomic outcomes, effectively aligning demographic scales and talent quality with developmental demands. This exemplifies China’s distinct socialist population governance model, characterized by “dynamic equilibrium in population stability, with complementary growth and decline”—a hallmark of its talent and demographic policies under socialism with Chinese characteristics.
Of course, not only for China, but also for all countries in the world – the deepening of aging and the continuous decline in fertility will bring all-round challenges to social and economic development. In order to actively respond to this complex situation, various provinces and cities in China have introduced a series of rich and diverse policies according to local conditions. While showing regional characteristics, they strive to solve the “low fertility issue” through diversified means and maintain the balance of the overall population ecology. It is completely correct to adopt an aging response strategy under regional characteristics in real development. China is a vast country, and there are significant differences in economic development level, population structure, cultural traditions and other aspects among different regions, which makes the policies of various provinces and cities to cope with aging present distinct regional diversity.
China’s vast territory sees rational population distribution and coordinated regional economic division of labor advancing appropriately across different regions.
Eastern China’s developed regions, such as the Yangtze River Delta and Pearl River Delta, are actively exploring smart elderly care models by leveraging their strong economic foundations and advanced technological capabilities. As an international metropolis, Shanghai is not only vigorously developing a high-end elderly care service industry by integrating premium domestic and international resources but also refining its points-based household registration system to attract young talents, thereby revitalizing the regional demographic structure. Simultaneously, a series of family-friendly policies—spanning childcare education to healthcare coverage—have been implemented to reduce the burden of child-rearing and enhance fertility motivation. In terms of regional coordination, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (Jing-Jin-Ji) region is actively promoting collaborative elderly care development, dismantling administrative barriers to achieve resource sharing and optimized allocation.
As a region densely populated with large provinces, Central China prioritizes family-based elderly care support and the development of elderly care facilities. Henan Province leverages its human resource strengths by introducing policies to guide the reutilization of elderly human resources, encouraging healthy, younger seniors to participate in social production. In terms of fertility policies, provinces like Hubei optimize educational resource allocation and provide education subsidies to families with children, alleviating concerns about childcare costs and boosting fertility motivation.
Western China, characterized by its vast territory and uneven population distribution, prioritizes balanced allocation of elderly care resources across the region. Ethnic regions such as Xinjiang and Tibet formulate culturally tailored elderly care policies by integrating local ethnic traditions, embedding ethnic cultural elements into elderly care services. Meanwhile, during ecological migration initiatives, some regions emphasize elderly resettlement programs to ensure the quality of life for relocated seniors remains unaffected.
Northeast China, grappling with severe population outflow and an increasingly acute aging population, faces amplified challenges in sustaining its elderly care systems. Local governments actively implement policies to attract return migration and stabilize the elderly care security system. Liaoning Province drives the integration of elderly care industries with its traditional industrial base transformation, fostering synergies to create new economic growth drivers. Heilongjiang Province incentivizes family fertility and expands population reserves through housing and employment incentives tailored to young families.
- China implements diversified demographic policies to promote nationwide population-ecosystem equilibrium.
Since China’s reform and opening-up, its regional economic landscape has undergone profound changes, with population mobility evolving into a multipolar “new migration phenomenon”. With over 600 national-level development zones and 7,000 provincial/municipal-level zones, some regions have seen fundamental shifts in industrial structures. Notably, the natural migration patterns of younger populations differ fundamentally from urban-rural population distributions in other developed economies. Beyond regional distinctiveness, China’s aging policies emphasize multidimensional strategies, spanning elderly care systems, social security, economic incentives, industrial development, and cultural/spiritual support.
Provinces have implemented policies to regulate and subsidize institutional elderly care, increasing funding for nursing home construction and operations. Concurrently, community-based home care services (e.g., door-to-door nursing, daytime support) are expanding nationwide. To address workforce shortages, provinces introduced caregiver training and incentive programs to improve salaries and social recognition for nursing staff.
China’s social security and welfare policies underpin aging responses, with provinces enhancing pension systems and benefit levels to safeguard seniors’ livelihoods. Medical insurance reimbursement rates for seniors have risen universally to alleviate healthcare costs. Special assistance policies target vulnerable groups (e.g., childless elders, impoverished seniors), providing tailored support.
Provinces like Zhejiang promote elderly-centric industries (e.g., senior product manufacturing, elderly tourism) as new economic drivers. Regions like Shandong encourage elderly employment/entrepreneurship through training and startup support for healthy seniors. Pilot programs like Shanghai’s reverse mortgage insurance expand seniors’ financial options.
Cities like Beijing enrich seniors’ lives through expanded senior university programs and community cultural events. Hunan prioritizes mental health services for seniors via dedicated support networks. Anhui engages seniors in community governance, leveraging their expertise to foster social belonging.
Facts speak louder than words. Global progress is inseparable from China, and vice versa. In building a global community of shared future, media practices that distort facts, manipulate narratives, or disregard interviewees’ authenticity violate the fundamental principle of journalistic integrity. Such malpractice—rooted in unethical “pre-set agendas”—amounts to human rights violations and abuses of press freedom. Responsible media must rectify these actions immediately; otherwise, they risk global condemnation and irrelevance.
Fred Oscar is an international affairs analyst based in Pretoria, South Africa
