Gender Differences in Health Among the Elderly in China
Men and women face distinct challenges in late life. Paradoxically, men tend to have shorter lives but women have more health problems at any given age. Addressing why women live longer but have more health problems and why men die earlier can help reduce health care and long-term care costs for the elderly and narrow the gender health gap. Toshiko Kaneda, Population Reference Bureau; Zachary Zimmer, University of Utah; and Xianghua Fang and Zhe Tang, Capital Medical University, examined a sample of older adults in Beijing to determine gender differences in health and mortality after a five-year period. (June 2009)

Tracking Fertility Rates in Low Fertility Countries
The extremely low fertility in most developed and many developing countries has many implications for the future age structure and labor force in these countries. Low birth-rate countries account for more than one-third of the world's population. PRB tracks fertility rates in low-birth rate countries in a unique table, which is frequently updated. View/download most recent table

HIV/AIDS Behaviors and Interventions in Chinese Americans
The prevalence of HIV/AIDS increased faster among Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States than in any other group between 2001 and 2004. Asians and Pacific Islanders are the only major U.S. racial or ethnic group with a statistically significant annual increase in the rate of new HIV infections during the first half of the decade, a time when blacks and Hispanics saw their rates decrease. (August 2008)

Why Do Older Chinese Face Higher Death Rates in Rural Areas?
Death rates for Chinese ages 50 and older are about 30 percent higher in rural areas than urban ones. Why are rural Chinese at such a disadvantage? According to an article in the Journal of Gerontology, cadre status, which is more common in urban areas, is a powerful determinant of mortality. Chinese adults who are cadres, or public officials who hold responsible or managerial positions in the party and government, had a significantly lower risk of death, according to the article's findings. (February 2008)

Gender Disparities in Health and Mortality
Gender differences in mortality and life expectancy vary by country. But in most countries, men live shorter lives than women. In Russia, for instance, the difference between male and female life expectancy is 13 years (59 vs. 72). In other countries, such as the United States, the male disadvantage is smaller: 5 years (75 vs. 80). And in some countries, such as Afghanistan, there is little or no male disadvantage (42 vs. 42). (November 2007)

World Population Highlights 2007: Environment
Carbon dioxide emissions have grown dramatically in the past century because of human activity, chiefly the use of fossil fuels such as oil and coal, as well as changes in land use such as cutting down forests. These emissions are a key contributor to climate change that is expected to produce rising temperatures, lead to more extreme weather patterns, facilitate the spread of infectious diseases, and put more stress on the environment. This article is excerpted from the Population Bulletin: "World Population Highlights: Key Findings From PRB's 2007 World Population Data Sheet." (September 2007)

New Restrictions Could Limit U.S. Adoptions From Top Two Countries of Origin: China and Guatemala
Although the number of U.S. adoptions of foreign children has generally risen over the past decade, in recent years, that number has fluctuated. Changes in China's adoption criteria and the United States' plan to implement a global treaty on intercountry adoption could affect the number of children adopted from the top two countries of origin for foreign adoptions—currently China and Guatemala. One contributing factor: The vast majority of American children adopted from abroad come from just a handful of countries. (March 2007)

China's Concern Over Population Aging and Health
China is not prepared to meet the health needs of its growing elderly population, but its government has recognized these challenges and is starting to develop a comprehensive response. However, while China's economy continues to grow rapidly, whether it will be able to allocate enough income to meet these rising health care costs remains as a major concern. (June 2006)

PRB-UNFPA Country Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health 2005
PRB and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) have jointly published the Country Profiles for Population and Reproductive Health: Policy Developments and Indicators 2005. The volume, which updates the 2003 edition, contains national and subnational indicators on the demographic and social situation in 163 countries and subregions. (March 2006)

China Confronts HIV/AIDS

 This report explores China's multifaceted HIV epidemic and details efforts by the Chinese government and the international community to contain the spread of HIV. (July 2005)

Injecting Drug Use Fueling Spread of HIV in China
The use of contaminated needles in injecting drugs provides the most common HIV transmission route in China. Needle sharing accounted for half of the 62,000 reported HIV cases in 2002. (August 2004)

China's Growing AIDS Epidemic Increasingly Affects Women
Increases in the heterosexual transmission of HIV in China are fueling concerns that the epidemic may be moving into the general population, where the virus could more easily prey on women's vulnerabilities. (July 2004)

HIV/AIDS Epidemics Expanding Rapidly in Asia
The rapid spread of HIV/AIDS epidemics in Asia, illustrated by dramatic increases in new infections in China, Thailand, and Vietnam over the past year, poses particularly worrisome challenges for the international community. (July 2004)

China's Population: New Trends and Challenges (PDF: 713KB)

 China has been the world's most populous country for centuries, and today makes up one-fifth of the world's population. This Population Bulletin draws from a growing body of statistical data and research to look at some of the demographic changes that have occurred in China's recent past. (BUL59.2, June 2004)

Anti-AIDS Effort in Central China Focuses on Former Plasma Donors
China has focused much of its fight against HIV/AIDS on former plasma donors: villagers in roughly seven central provinces who contracted the virus at blood collection centers that operated prior to a government crackdown in the late 1990s. (May 2004)

China Faces Challenges in Effort to Contain HIV/AIDS Crisis
With official estimates of Chinese people living with HIV/AIDS rising from 500,000 in 1999 to 1 million by 2002, China continues to face a number of challenges as it strives to contain a crisis that experts fear could affect more than 10 million people by 2010. (May 2004)

Emerging Epidemics in China
For China’s 1.3 billion people, integration into the global economy has required unprecedented mobility and exposure to travelers from other countries. The SARS outbreak has shown that China needs domestic and international help to control the spread of infectious diseases. (May 2003)

Shortage of Girls in China
This PowerPoint presentation is from a PRB policy seminar given by Judith Banister on the "missing girls" of China. She explores the causes, consequences, international comparisons, and solutions to China's unbalanced sex ratios. (May 2003)

HIV/AIDS Epidemic in China Spreads Into the General Population
The millions of rural Chinese who migrate to cities are extremely vulnerable to HIV infection. They are largely young and poorly educated, with little access to prevention education. They are easy targets for drug sellers and have ample opportunities to interact with sex workers. (April 2003)

International Adoption Rate in U.S. Doubled in the 1990s
The number of foreign children adopted by U.S. parents has increased sharply, nearly doubling during the 1990s. At less than 5 percent of legal immigrants, international adoptees add relatively little to national population growth, but they contribute to racial and ethnic diversity and links to other countries. And because many adopted children come from different racial or ethnic backgrounds than their parents, they contribute to the blurring of racial and ethnic boundaries. (January 2003)

HIV in China Linked to Drug Trade
China has a low HIV prevalence rate, but the absolute number of infected people is staggering: at least 850,000. The country faces millions of additional infections unless it launches large-scale, effective prevention programs. (October 2002)

China’s Economic Reforms Likely to Increase Internal Migration
An estimated 130 million Chinese were living away from the places they were registered to live in mid-2001. Economic opportunities make it likely this number will increase. (October 2002)

China's Quest for Reproductive Health: An Interview with Yu Xuejun
PRB staff recently met with Yu Xuejun, director of the China Population Information and Research Center (CPIRC) in Beijing, to discuss reproductive health in China. CPIRC is a research and educational organization originally established in 1980 by the State Family Planning Commission (SFPC), the state agency that implements China's population policies. (June 2001)

Dissecting China's 2000 Census
After conducting what was arguably the world's most ambitious census ever last November, the Chinese government has begun to release the results: a population of 1.266 billion last year, under the government's goal of staying below 1.3 billion for 2000. (June 2001)

For China, a Census That Really Counts
Tracking down more than 1 billion Chinese citizens is no easy task, but on November 1 the Chinese government will conduct China's fifth national census since the founding of the People's Republic in 1949. (Population Today, November/December 2000)