China's (Huge) Demographic Imbalance

And in our file of "Reasons Why China is Not the Economic Hope of the World":

All over this district, the evidence of government concern is on display. A 20-yard-long propaganda poster in one tiny hamlet dwells sternly and very frankly on the problem, declaring: 'Our current family planning policy is this, "Pay attention to the issue of gender imbalance."'

It quotes a recent national census showing a growing imbalance and predicts: 'In 2040 there will be 300million men and 250 million women under 40. At least 30million men will have difficulty getting married.

This will cause "elements of instability" and hinder economic growth. The harm caused by this imbalance could include disintegration of families, high divorce rates, "sex offences" and distortion of the birth rate.'

The poster, astonishingly candid in a country where critical journalism and dissent are still suppressed with all the force of the state, is sadly lame when it comes to suggesting what to do.

It calls for 'action to care for girls' and then sets out four vague and wordy slogans which can be summed up as 'girls are good'. And so they keep saying.

As we travelled around the countryside, it was interesting to see that the traditional Chinese rural propaganda - charmingly naive tiled pictures calling for one-child families, until recently an inescapable feature of the country's rural landscape, often on every corner and at any crossroads - had recently disappeared, or been covered up.

The message remains but it has been altered, although some old slogans, such as 'fewer births, better births', remain.