China’s Growing Urban Population
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China’s 1.3 billion people make up one-fifth of the world’s population. But strict rules and changing lifestyles have led to lower growth rates. Most urban couples are bound by the “One Child” policy. Rural families are allowed a second child if their first-born is a girl. Many go to great lengths to ensure they have boys which officials believe is leading to a growing gender imbalance.
China is seeing a great movement of population from the rural interior to the cities in the east. In 1950, the urban population represented less than 13% of the total – it is now about 40% and is expected to reach 60% by 2030.
The kind of social upheaval that will result from this dramatic shift in China’s population is hard to accurately predict. However, we feel certain that this will create a significant amount of ‘openness’ to the gospel among many of those who are undergoing the social changes.