China 2020 census shows population growth slipped to lowest ever

Women ride bikes on a street, following the outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), in Shanghai, China May 10, 2021.[Reuters]

China's population growth in the decade to 2020 slumped to the least in official records dating back to the 1950s, fuelling pressure on Beijing to ramp up incentives to couples to have more children and avert an irreversible decline.

With growth having slowed ever since a one-child policy was introduced in the late 1970s, the 2020 results of the country's once-a-decade census, published on Tuesday, showed the population of mainland China increased 5.38% to 1.41 billion.