Chinese state media CCTV’s sharply worded commentary on Thursday said the subtext from Western media in recent years was that China’s development was in “big trouble” and that when the country’s demographic dividend disappears, it will decline and the global economy will also suffer.
“They slandered all the way and China has developed all the way, creating a miracle of sustainable and stable economic development with a huge population,” CCTV said.
“The United States is stepping up efforts to contain China’s development and advocate further decoupling and found new hype points from the United Nations report,” CCTV said, adding that the West simply equated population size with development achievements.
“Such hype lacks a basic understanding of the law of population development. With the development of human society today, the decrease in birth rate and decline in willingness to bear children are common problems faced by the whole world.”
CCTV added that Western developed countries generally faced problems such as labour shortages.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin said population dividends did not only depend on quantity but also quality.
“Population is important but talents are also important… China has taken active measures to respond to population ageing,” Wang told reporters on Wednesday.
The country still has over 900 million ‘quality’ workforce, says China .