{"id":4005,"date":"2014-04-04T17:17:17","date_gmt":"2014-04-04T17:17:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.viewsoftheworld.net\/?p=4005"},"modified":"2017-02-10T11:51:11","modified_gmt":"2017-02-10T11:51:11","slug":"chinas-gender-gap-man-made-problems","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.viewsoftheworld.net\/?p=4005","title":{"rendered":"China’s gender gap"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"CHINET\"<\/a>“In recent decades, the world has witnessed the enormous economic, social, cultural and political development of China. As the most populous country in the world, China\u2019s transition process influences directly one fifth of the world\u2019s population and indirectly almost all the rest of the world. Chinese economic activities cover the whole globe, Chinese living overseas constitute the largest diaspora, and China\u2019s political and economic influence is significant. On the other hand, China and its government face many challenges, as Chinese society as well as the environment are affected by these massive processes.” These challenges were the theme of a Conference on the Socio-Economic Transition of China<\/a> at Palack\u00fd University in Olomouc (Czech Republic) where the opportunities and potential threats for China are discussed from an interdisciplinary perspective organized by the CHINET<\/a> (Forging a scientific team and international networking in the field of Chinese Studies) project.
\nPart of that was an invited contribution which I prepared in collaboration with Adam Hor\u00e1lek of Palack\u00fd University. Our talk titled ‘Mapping Perspectives of Changing China’ presented a global as well as national context to the topic, framing China’s socio-economic place in the globalised world and highlighting some of the trends that started transforming the Chinese society considerably over the past three decades. While the most recent Census is not yet available in larger detail, we focussed on an analysis of some key aspects of the previous Census in more detail (and also discussed the quality and reliability of data from official statistics there).
\nThe following map showing the gender gap was part of our slides (see below) and stands for one of the demographic challenges and existing tensions in the contemporary society. These are not only characterized by the changing age structures (with very distinct geographic patterns of ageing populations), but also by the considerable imbalance between the male and female population in most parts of the country. According to the most recent 2010 Census, this was at 1.18 males per female, and thus increased to the already high ratio that was stated 10 years before. In some regions, there are now over 130 men for 100 woman, with the fear (and sometimes reality), “that the excess will lead to increased sexual violence, general crime and social instability” (quoted from the Guardian<\/a>). It is very much a man-made problem<\/a> as in the early 1980s the ratio was at 108:100 and therefore only slightly above the natural rate, after which the 1979 introduced one child policy<\/a> started having an effect that we see in its full extent today. This map, showing the sex ratio on an equal population projection (a gridded cartogram transformation where each grid cell is resized according to the total number of people in an area). It reveals, that the surplus of men is common throughout the country, while the opposite (a considerable surplus of women) is true for very few of the populated spaces in China (such as in the Shenzhen area of the Pearl River Delta where female migrants are the majority of workers under precarious employment conditions<\/a>).
\nThe authorities appear to become aware of the emerging problems, and according to the Guardian article<\/a>, China’s “new Five Year Plan sets an ambitious target of cutting the ratio to 112 or 113 by 2016”. For the time being, the pattern in this map remains prevalent and puts pressure on a society that is feeling the full impact of China’s transformation to a new global player over the past decades.<\/p>\n

\"Male<\/a>
\n(click for larger version)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n


\nWhat this map also shows is how densely populated the Eastern provinces of China are. The following map taken from my World Population Atlas<\/a> shows even more symbolic how these regions are almost like a sea of people where many of the cities appear like bubbles in which many of these areas are cities with million and more inhabitants, surrounded by densely populated rural regions. The labels in the following map also help to orientate in the map if you are less familiar with this type of projection (or less familiar with the urban geography of China):<\/p>\n

\"Gridded<\/a>
\n(click for larger version)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n

More maps can be found in the slides of our presentation (and will also be featured on this website in future):<\/p>\n

Mapping Perspectives of Changing China<\/a>
\n