Not his 'Grey" problem, but China's. Hmmmmm. China is aging; its population is in decline at a mush faster rate than predicted just a decade ago. Now that's a problem when you are trying your best to become the world's only "super" power. Never mind restricting internal movement or emigration, one province to the next. Never mind that 60% + of the population is left in rural/farm settings waiting for the economy to reach them with a higher level of living.
Let's have a look: in 1990, there was an average of 4 people per household throughout China. Ten years later, the number per household dropped to 3.4 persons per each household. Then in 2010, another drop to 3.1 persons per household. Most recently, 2020, the number dropped to 2.62 persons per household. On Tuesday, China announced a fourth straight year of declining births. Weng Feng, a sociology professor at UC Irvine, states that the population of China will begin a slide as soon as 2025, " a decline that sees no end." On top of this statistic is another, maybe worse: 20% of the current population is over the age of 60. Births declined 18% in 2020, partly due to Covid. Much of the decline can be the result of the 1-child policy which took hold in1980. While this rule has been weakened, the effects will be here for years.
China will continue to produce great economic gains in many areas, but robots cannot make up the role of the Chinese consumer, a primary target for homemade products. Maybe the next Mars probe will look for immigrants on the surface. Their new Mars rover landed this week and sent back some pictures. Meanwhile, the space junk from one of their orbiting space vehicles burnt up as it reenteredtheatmosphere over the Indian Ocean. Glad it missed Tahoma. Keep your eyes open out there.
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