It’s not the decline the Financial Times suggested last month – and China refuted – but it is China’s slowest rate of population growth since 1953. In the once-a-decade census conducted in November and December last year and released yesterday, the National Bureau of Statistics said there were 1.4 billion people in China last year. And, for the 4th year in a row, the birth rate fell with 12 million babies born in 2020 – the lowest level since 1961. The census also showed that the population is ageing rapidly, and that will see China join many developed nations with not enough young workers to support them. The government has already flagged raising the retirement age to ease pressure on the pension system. The count raises questions about the push for traditional family values and puts pressure on Beijing to abandon its family planning policies limiting them to having 2 kids.