China's births hit historic low, a political problem for Beijing

The demographic crisis, a challenge to the economy, also signals a limit to the reach of the government, which has struggled recently to grow the population

(Photo: Reuters)

China announced on Monday that its birthrate plummeted for a fifth straight year in 2021, moving the world’s most populous country closer to the potentially seismic moment when its population will begin to shrink, and hastening a demographic crisis that could undermine its economy and even its political stability.

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