Wiley, American Geographical Society Geographical Review

American Geographical Society
Population Growth and Urbanization in China, 1953-1970

Author(s): Cheng-Siang Chen
Source: Geographical Review, Vol. 63, No. 1 (Jan., 1973), pp. 55-72
Published by: American Geographical Society
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POPULATION GROWTH AND
URBANIZATION IN CHINA, 1953-1970

CHENG-SIANG CHEN
ACENSUS is nothing new in a country like China which has such

a long history; even in remote times the population was frequently surveyed and reported. So far as we can check in his-
torical records, the earliest and the most complete Chinese census
was held at the end of the former Han dynasty-that is in A.D. 2when it was reported that China had 59,594,978 people in 12,233,062
households, averaging 4.87 persons a household. But in the last several centuries no definitive figures have existed, and scholars, businessmen, and others were provided only with widely varying and almost useless estimates, some of which were reached on such bizarre
bases as the per capita consumption of food or the amount of mail de-
livered annually. Up to the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War

(1937-1945) more than fifty such estimates had appeared; of these the
highest total was 540 million and the lowest 320 million, showing a
difference of 220 million. This difference, it should be noted, was far
greater than the population of North America at the time and was
roughly equal to the combined population of the two Americas. The
study of Chinese geography is currently a hide-and-seek game; one
must be patient and constantly keep an eye on the various changes.
Since official statistics are unavailable, any estimate of urban population must be based chiefly on broad observations and on fragmentary
news reports.
THE FIRST MODERN CENSUS
Pressed by urgent administrative and development needs after the
formation of the People's Republic, the new government conducted

the first modern census in 1953, setting midnight of June 30, 1953,
as the standard census time.1 The official results, published by the
1 That is, no matter when the count was taken, the figures were drawn up on the
basis of the situation on June 30. If the count was made before June 30, it was subsequently brought up to date. The census count actually lasted several months. In Kwangtung Province the census work was completed only in April, 1954.
> DR. CHEN is chairman of the Geography Department and Director of the
Geographical Research Centre in the Graduate School of The Chinese University
of Hong Kong.
56
THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW
State Statistical Bureau on November i, 1954, showed that exclusive

of the province of Taiwan China had a population of 582,603,417.2
This prosaic demographic fact immediately became a sensational
newspaper headline all over the world. China's population, for so
long a question mark, was found at last.
Admittedly, the 1953 census was not ideally carried out, partly
TABLE I-POPULATION GROWTH IN MAINLAND CHINA
(Tear-end figures in thousands)
YEAR POPULATION INCREASE OVER PRECEDING YEAR ANNUAL % OF INCREASE
1950 551,960
1951 563,000 I ,040 2.0
1952 574,820 11,820 2.1
1953 587,960 13,140 2.3
1954 601,720 13,760 2.3
1955 614,650 12,930 2.2
1956 627,800 13,150 2.2
1957 649,500 21,700 3-4
I958 673,000 23,500 3.6
I954- I958 av. 633,330 17,o80 2.7
Source: Cheng-siang Chen: China, in World Atlas of Agriculture, Vol. 2: South and
East Asia, Oceania (Novara, I971).
because of the vastness of the Chinese territory, which hinders communication, and partly because of the lack of trained enumerators.
As a matter of fact, the census takers asked only five simple questions.3 No attempt was made to seek a de facto counting (that is, the
number of persons actually present at a particular place on the day
of the census); instead, the census takers recorded only those habitual-
ly resident and legally supposed to be there (the de jure population).

In some of the more remote and inaccessible border areas inhabited
by minority groups, it was often hard to make a direct count and the
census takers had to rely on estimates.4 A census like this may be dismissed as too simple or as incomplete, but it is still the best published
census in China, and the findings proved helpful in the comprehensive planning for the nation.
2 If the population of Taiwan and the Overseas Chinese-that is, Chinese settlers in
foreign lands and students studying abroad-had been included, the count would have
been 601,938,035.
3 (1) Full name and address; (2) relationship to the head of the family; (3) sex; (4)
age; and (5) nationality or race.
4 These include the rural areas of Sinkiang, Tibet, western Tsinghai, and north-
western Yiinnan, all thinly populated. They were surveyed indirectly on the basis of both
sampling and administrative reports; since the resulting number was only 8,397,477, the
total population was not greatly affected.
URBANIZATION IN CHINA
57
With this census as a basis, we can find the trends of population

increase and the extent of urbanization in China. First, with respect
to age composition, the Chinese population in 1953 was young, with
35.9 percent of the total in the under-15 group, 56.8 percent in the
15-59 group, and only 7.3 percent 60 and over. It was a population cap-
able of rapid growth. In addition, a young population meant more

people of working age and of greater productive capacity. In a country undergoing nationwide industrialization this is desirable.
The year-end population figures reported annually by the State
Statistical Bureau from 1953 through 1958 are more accurate than
figures for the precensal years (Table I). The annual population increase during the period 1954-1958 averaged 17 million, which is
equal to the population of East Germany or Rumania at the same
period. The increase became greater as time went on, and after 1957
it was generally more than 20 million, a figure that caused much
worry when such problems as food supply and employment were considered.
Throughout most of Chinese history, especially when a dynasty

was drawing to an end, population increases were counteracted by
natural disasters, social disorders, pestilences, and wars. However,
the picture has completely changed. China is no longer torn by war;
numerous water-conservancy projects now control the rivers, including the Hwang Ho, once called "The Sorrow of China," and minimize the threat of drought; with improvements in environmental
sanitation, plagues have disappeared and the nation has won the reputation of being one of the cleanest in the world.5 The living conditions of the common people have generally improved. Although the
birth rate remains high, the death rate, estimated at 27 to 30 per thou-
sand in the early decades of the twentieth century and 18 per thousand in 1952, when the government instituted its Vital Registration
Law, dropped to 1 per thousand in 1957 and it is still decreasing.
Between 1952 and 1957, the birth rate dropped from 37 per thousand
to 34 and the rate of natural increase rose from 19 per thousand to 23.
The birth rate was higher and the death rate lower in urban areas
than in rural areas. In Shanghai the birth rate in 1957 was 45.7 per
5John Saar (A Whole Country Being Worked Very Hard, Life, Apr. 30, 1971, pp.
32-34; reference on p. 33) reports that "The streets of Peking and the other two cities we
visited-Shanghai and Canton-were scrupulously clean. You might make a diligent

search of 200 yards without turning up anything more substantial than a candy wrapper .... Chinese towns have a gleaned, frugal look with neither waste nor tinsel in evidence. The countryside is the same."
58 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

thousand and the death rate, 5.9 per thousand; in Peking the figures
were 42.0 and 7.1 per thousand, respectively.
The drop in infant mortality rates is even more striking. The national figure fell from more than 200 per thousand in 1949 to 81 per
thousand in 1956. After 1956 the infant mortality rate in the rural
areas dropped to below 1oo, while in the major urban areas it fell to
below 40. The infant mortality rate in Peking was 117.6 in 1949, but
dropped to 31.1 in 1956. In Shanghai and Canton the rate in 1952
stood at 81.2 and 47.7 per thousand, but by 1956 had fallen to 31.1
and 25.1, respectively.
Each year, with the large population increase, there is also a corresponding increase in the working-age group. During the First FiveYear Plan (1953-1957) the annual increase in the working-age group
was estimated to be four million and during the Second Five-Year
Plan (1958-1962), five million. Only about a fourth of the annual increase was absorbed by industry. Clearly, the immediate problem
was to provide food and jobs for a rapidly growing population.
Worried by this trend, the government officially advocated birth
control in 1954.6 The fervor of the drive reached its peak in March,
1957, when a Birth Control Research Committee was established to
coordinate experience and research in contraception. During the

"Great Leap Forward" the drive was halted, partly because of the fear
that it would dampen the high spirit of the working people and part-
ly because of a temporary labor shortage. Since 1962, birth control

has again been advocated, along with a recommendation for later mar-
riages. The government stresses the need for family planning, contraception, the proper spacing of births, and the care of the mother's
health. The recommended age at marriage is 23 to 27 for women and

25 to 29 for men. Earlier marriages are condemned as physically and
mentally harmful to the health of parents and children and for distracting youth from study and productive work. The advocacy of late
marriage and smaller families has been vigorously preached through-
out the country. The three-child family is the ideal, and abortion is
available.7
6 The first official suggestions of the desirability of birth control came at the National People's Congress in 1954 when its vice-chairman, Shao Li-tze, stated, "It is a
good thing to have a large population but, in an environment beset with difficulties, it
appears that a limit should be set." In mid-1955 Premier Chou En-lai openly pled for
"appropriate control in respect of births."
7 Abortions are done free of charge. Birth control pills are also distributed gratis,
and since 1968 the 22-day birth control pill, developed in China, has increasingly re-
59
Although there have been reports that food and cloth rations and
maternity leaves are not granted after the fourth child, these potentially repressive measures are apparently not strictly applied. The
campaign has certainly lowered the birth rate, especially in the urban
areas, but it can hardly have had a significant effect on the more conservative countryside. Since 1966, the growth rate has dropped to less
than 2 percent. During the post-Cultural Revolution period, rural
areas received intensified birth-control efforts.
It should be noted that birth control is directed principally toward

the Han Chinese and is not binding on minority groups. In fact, these
groups are free to rear as many children as they wish. For instance,
the Uighurs in the Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous Region pay no
heed to birth control, and in the past twenty years they have shown a
42 percent population increase. The Sibos, a much smaller tribe in

Sinkiang, registered a 79 percent increase during the same period.
POPULATION INCREASE AND REGIONAL DIFFERENCES
After the census of 1953 the administrative divisions of China un-
derwent many complicated changes.8 But since 1957, although administrative divisions are still being modified from time to time, no
drastic changes have been made. It is thus possible to make a comparative study of the administrative divisions in China after 1957. At
the end of 1957 population figures were published for the first-order
administrative divisions (provinces, municipalities, and autonomous
regions), but because specific data for the areas of the second order
and downward were unavailable, the outside world has found it diffi-
cult to compare those figures with the results of the 1953 census.
Nonetheless, experienced research workers generally agree that the
data published in 1957 still represent the most detailed and the most
reliable information about China that outsiders can expect to get.
The years 1959-1961 were critical for the Chinese government:
party factions collided over their political views; Sino-Soviet relations
were at a low ebb; emphasis on heavy industry was lopsided and agriculture consequently neglected; unfavorable weather continuously
plagued large areas of the country. For these and for security reasons,
placed intrauterine and other contraceptive devices. All medical organizations, mobile
units, "barefoot doctors," and army medical teams distribute control propaganda and
the pills, for which the demand exceeds current production.
8 Cheng-siang Chen: The Administrative Divisions and Their Changes in Post-War

China, The Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Geogr. Research Centre Research Rept. No. 49,
Hong Kong, 1971.
60
the government banned the publication of statistics and the shipping
abroad of most Chinese books and journals. Nevertheless there are

indications, partly based on talks with people who have come out of
mainland China, that in 1964 China held its second census, a census
that was more detailed than the first. Unfortunately, the results of
this census have not been published and have been circulated only
among the higher cadres of the Party. It is said that the total population of China based on this census was 713 million, an increase of 130
million, or 22.3 percent, over the 1953 figure.
After the tide of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1968) had rolled

past, "Revolution Committees" were organized in all the provinces,
municipalities, and autonomous regions. The chairman of each of
these committees, upon his inauguration, reported the population
figure for his area. Although the figures were given in round numbers, yet, considering the special occasion on which they were revealed,
we can be fairly sure of their credibility and can infer that the 1964
census must be the basis. When we add up these figures, it appears
that at the end of the Cultural Revolution the population of mainland
China was approximately 720 million. By now it is perhaps more
than 750 million.
The data in Table II give rise to several comments and interpretations. (1) During the period 1957-1965 all the provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions registered population increases, and the
average annual rate of increase was 1.41 percent. (2) Border regions
showed higher than average rates of increase (for example, 5.7 percent in Inner Mongolia and 5.2 percent in Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous Region). (3) The high rate of increase in Chekiang and Fukien,
the two already crowded provinces facing Taiwan, was apparently related to military installations. (4) Kiangsi, the old base of the Communist Party in its early revolutionary days, had a greater than average
population increase because it was trying to make up for the depletion
of its manpower during the war years. (5) Peking and Shanghai registered sharp increases, mainly because of the enlargement of their municipal areas.
According to the 1953 census, 505,346,135 persons, or 86.7 percent of the total population, lived in rural areas-defined as places
with a population of less than 2000 persons or a place where the population is more than 2000 but where 50 percent of the total are engaged in agriculture-and the urban (that is, nonrural) population
was 77 million, or 13.3 percent. Although in the past two decades the
61
urban proportion has increased somewhat, it is still safe to say that

more than 75 percent of the Chinese population is rural.
On November 7, 1955, the twentieth meeting of the State Council
TABLE II--POPULATION INCREASES BETWEEN 1957 AND 1965
1957 REGISTRATION 1965 ESTIMATE*

ADMINISTRATIVE AREA, 1965 Density Annual increase
DIVISION (Iooo km2) Thousands per km2 Thousands rate (1957-1965, %)
Provincest
Anhwei
Chekiang
Fukien
Heilungkiang
Honan
Hopei
Hunan
Hupei
Kansu
Kiangsi
Kiangsu
Kirin
I39.9
Ioi.8
123.1
463.6
167.0
197.2
210.5
I87.5
366.5
164.8
102.2
I87.0
33,560
25,280
14,650
14,860
48,670
239.9
36,220
172.1
I8,6o1
34-9
I 12.9
22,000
2.28
67.1
47,000
17,000
0.49
4-43
248.3
35,000
31,000
119.0
32.1
21,000
5.I6
50,000
47,ooo
0.34
32,000
0.49
291.4
44,720
226.8
30,799
12,800
164.2
45,230
12,550
442.6
Kwangtung
231.4
37,960
I6,89o
I64.0
Liaoning
I74.0
151.0
24,090
159-5
IOI.6
54,030
352.4
Kweichow
Shansi
Shantung
Shensi
Szechwan
Tsinghai
Yiinnan
Municipalities
Peking
Shanghai
Autonomous Regions
Inner Mongolia
Kwangsi Chuang
Ninghsia
Sinkiang Uighur
Tibet
TOTAL
I57-I
153-3
I95.8
569.0
721.0
15,960
38,000
2.01
0.64
0.6i
1.07
13,900
40,000
17,400
28,000
I8,oo0
0.67
0.38
2.03
1.60
o.69
1.98
57,000
92.6
2 1,000
43.8
2,400
23,000
0.32
2.13
2.55
17.1 4,0oo 234.5 8,ooo
12.44
436.2
I8,I30
72,160
97.1
17,000
0.54
2.83
2,050
19,100
126.8
2.8
74,000
5.8 6,900 I,I89.7 I I,OO
1,183.o
7.8
9,200
I9,390
88.o
1,646.8
5,640
3-4
8,000
1.0
9,561.0
646,530
1,400
719,500
220.4
66.4
1,221.6
1,810
1,270
27.3
67.6
13,400
7.43
5.71
24,000
2.97
2,000
13.12
5.23
1.28
I .4
Source: Cheng-siang Chen: Zhongguo Dizhi, or A Geography of China, Vol. II, Part 3,
Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Geogr. Research Centre Research Rept. No. 51, Hong Kong, I972.
* Estimate made by the author based on the figures announced by the chairmen of
Revolution Committees of all the provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions
during the closing period of the Cultural Revolution.
t Excluding the province of Taiwan.
established the criteria for defining the urban population.9 Briefly, an

urban area was supposed to meet one or more of the following condi-
tions: (1) serve as the seat of the municipal people's committee or

9 This definition of "urban" is very similar to the definition which I had worked out
earlier for Taiwan (Cheng-siang Chen: The Cities and Rural Towns in Taiwan, Fu-Min
Geogr. Inst. of Econ. Development, Research Rept. No. 48, Taipei, 1953).
62
people's committee above the hsien (county) level; (2) have a resident
population of 2000 or more, of whom 50 percent or more are nonagricultural; (3) have a resident population between 1ooo and 2000,
of whom 75 percent are nonagricultural. However, there is no evidence that these criteria are presently being used by the government.
SHIH CITIES
In the past, the so-called shih, or city, in China was often designated solely on the basis of its size. Since China is the most populous
country in the world, the population required for classification as a
shih was generally high, 1oo,ooo or more. Cities with a population
around 50,000 were summarily designated as chen, or townships.
However, the situation has drastically changed with the rapid development of modern industry and transportation. Many smaller places,
with less than 5o,ooo population, are now fully qualified as cities in
functional terms, and some of them, because of their key positions,
are administratively designated as shih. Places that had officially been
designated as shih up to the end of 1965 are shown on Plate I. Although some places underwent changes in status either before or after
1965, these obviously occurred for administrative reasons and do not
bespeak sudden changes in the places themselves; many cities designated as shih on earlier maps are shown as chen on more recent maps,
while new shih may appear suddenly on the same recent maps.
A case in point is the several small towns that sprang up some years
ago following the discovery of petroleum in the now fast developing
Tsaidam (Ch'aitamu) Basin. Two of these towns, Lenghu and Tachaitan, were clearly marked as shih on official maps published in 1964.
However, maps published after 1965 show both as demoted to chen
status. Actually these two places once ranking as shih are very small;
Lenghu, for example, had only about 2000 persons up to 1970.
The classification of cities in accordance with the current admin-
istrative system is not only complicated but unusual. Since this classification is apt to confuse one not well acquainted with things Chinese,
some explanatory notes seem necessary. The cities designated as shih

in China today are given different ranks. The highest-ranking shih
cities are those administratively placed under the direct control of the
Central Government, and at present there are only three-Peking,

Shanghai, and Tientsin. Each is given the status of a province or an
autonomous region and includes in its administrative area several
hsien, though the population of the urban area is much more than
that of the suburbs. For example, Shanghai, the largest city in China,
CHINA
ADMINISTRATIVE CITIES,
1965
700
8050o
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63
administratively controls ten chul, or districts, and ten hsien. Shanghai

proper is inhabited by seven million persons, while the outlying areas
have about four million. Between the urban and rural areas of Shang-
hai have popped into view in recent years many satellite towns serving chiefly as residential quarters for industrial workers, and they can
be regarded as the intermediate or transitional zone of Shanghai.
From 1950 through 1970 no fewer than 75 such quarters had appeared
in Shanghai, and they occupied 57,330 hectares. These new industrialresidential clusters, many of which have a population of more than
50,000, are small cities in their own right.
Chinese shih cities that rank next in importance are those directly
answerable to the provincial government, and they have the same
status enjoyed by a chutan chit, or special district,10 by an autonomous
choi, or by a meng.11 They may or may not include hsien in their administrative areas. In 1965 there were 72 such cities in China, designated principally by political and economic considerations instead of
by size. Of these cities, 46 did not have any hsien. So far as the 1965
situation is concerned, of the rest of the cities in the second category
nine administered only one hsien, five controlled two hsien, four controlled three hsien, one controlled four hsien, three controlled five
hsien, two controlled seven hsien, one (Harbin) controlled eight

hsien, and one (Lhasa) controlled eleven hsien. Lhasa has only 0oo,ooo
persons, yet the hsien under its administration occupy a land area that
extends 650 kilometers from east to west and about 240 kilometers
from south to north-that is, an area much larger than Taiwan.
The lowest-ranking shih cities in China are those under the jurisdiction of the special districts, the autonomous chou, or the meng.
Their status is equal to that of a hsien, an autonomous hsien, or a chi
(Fig. 1).12 Traditionally, however, they are slightly more important
than the hsien, and in ordinary listings always precede theIn, though
they have no administrative control over the hsien. Examples are
Fushan shih and Kongmoon shih, under the Fushan Special District;
10 A chuian chu, or special district, is an administrative unit intermediate between a
province and a hsien. All provinces and autonomous regions in China (excepting Inner
Mongolia) have a number of these special districts within their administrative areas.
Each chuan chu is further divided into a number of hsien. For example, Hopei has io
chuan chu and one chuan chu in this group (Tangshan) administers two shih and twelve
hsien.
11 A meng is an administrative unit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; it is

the equivalent of a chuan chu in other parts of China.
12 A chi is an administrative unit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; it is
the equivalent of a hsien in other parts of China.
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0 100 200 300 400 500

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0 200 400 600 800
Kilometers
FIG. 1
65
Yenki shih, under the Yenpien Korean Autonomous Chou; and Tsining shih, under the Ulanchapu meng. In 1965 there were 95 such shih
cities.
The present shih institution in China is not only unique but differs from region to region. Not infrequently the shih contain extensive rural areas, and several are combinations of small towns. For ex-
ample, the population of Pingsiang shih in western Kiangsi was given

as 940,000 in 1970, yet the major built-up area has only 40,000 people;
the famous coal mines to the east of town account for 170,000 workers,
and the rest of the population is exclusively rural. The urban population of Pingsiang, therefore, is 210,000. Tzepo in central Shantung,
with a population of 850,000 in 1970, is made up of half a dozen new
industrial towns, including Tzechwan, Poshan, and Changtien.
Occasionally a shih is established for some special purpose, and
once that function is terminated the shih status is lost too. Malipo in
Yiinnan Province, which was designated as a shih during the Korean
War and which had a population of 196,300 in 1953, is one such example. In some United Nations publications-for instance the Demographic Yearbook-this place is still listed as it was twenty years ago.
I have received at least ten inquiries about where Malipo is, what
kind of shih it is, and how it has fared in recent years. This place is
now only a rural district, where not even a market town has a population of 20,000. On the other hand, a genuine shih, Yaicheng, seems
to owe its existence to the Vietnam War. This new city, not to be
found on ordinary maps, is on the south coast of Hainan Island only
about 310 kilometers from the port of Da Nang in South Vietnam
and has a probable population of no fewer than 1oo,ooo. Ninety kilometers north of Yaicheng is the largest iron mine in South China, and
fifty kilometers east of it is the major naval base for China's South Seas
Fleet. A likely explanation for the city's sudden growth is that it has
been, and is still being, used as a military base to keep watch on the
war situation in Vietnam.
To the best of our knowledge, Hainan Island has been bulging
with a population of more than four million, a high percentage of

whom are young people and soldiers. These young people and soldiers are part of the Production and Construction Corps, who build
state farms to develop the rich tropical resources and are being trained
as combat troops for possible future wars. Yaicheng has become an

activity center for this young population. However, except for its
beautiful beaches, Yaicheng does not seem to promise well as a boom
city in the long run.
66
THE URBAN POPULATION
The 1953 census showed that China had 5568 urban places, nine of
which had more than a million inhabitants (P1. II). The total population of all places of more than 20,000 was 51,313,000, or some 8.8 per-
cent of the national total. This proportion, from the standpoint of

the earlier urbanized Western countries, is certainly low. Nevertheless the absolute number of urban-dwellers is large. It was reported to
be 140 million in 1964 and 160 million in 1970.13
The urban population of 160 million made up approximately a

fifth of the nation's inhabitants. In 1970 twenty-one cities in China
had a population of more than a million (Table III). Together, these
cities totaled 44,460,000 persons, 5.9 percent of the total population
of China and 27.8 percent of the urban population. However, if the
number of large cities is calculated on the basis of a population size
of 500,000 or more, the 1970 total of big cities in China was 43, with
a combined population of 59,830,000, or 8.o percent of the national
total and 37.4 percent of the total urban population of the nation (P1.
III).
The proportion of urban dwellers is highest in the industrialized
Northeast, where it is more than 30 percent. The municipalities of
Peking and Tientsin in Hopei and Shanghai in Kiangsu raise the proportion of urban dwellers for these two provinces to more than 20 per-
cent; otherwise, no province or autonomous region shows a percentage of urban dwellers above the national average. Moderate degrees of
urbanization are shown by the southeastern coastal provinces of Chekiang, Fukien, and Kwangtung. Urbanization on any large scale is
lacking in the thinly populated Northwest and Southwest.
There was a time during the early days of the People's Republic
when fairly large numbers of people moved from rural villages into
the cities, seeking jobs and higher living standards. And there was
still another reason: old China was a country long torn by wars, and
people from their painful experiences believed in the popular saying,
"Live in the countryside in troubled times"; thus whenever a civil
war was raging, large groups of people fled from the city to the countryside, and naturally many of them were of the wealthy class, includ-
ing absentee landlords. When the Communists came to power and

drastic land reform was enforced, these people found that the rural
13 By comparison, in 1970 the urban population of the Soviet Union was 136 million
(Chauncy D. Harris: Urbanization and Population Growth in the Soviet Union, 1959-1970,
Geogr. Rev., Vol. 61, 1971, pp. 102-124) and that of the United States was 150 million.
CITIES OF CHINA,
1953
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67
TABLE III--CITIES WITH POPULATIONS OVER A HALF MILLION, 1970
CITY
Shanghai
Peking
Tientsin
Mukden (Shenyang)
Wuhan
Canton
Chungking
Nanking
Harbin (Haerhpin)
Liita (Dairen, Port

Arthur)
Sian
Lanchow
Taiyiian
Tsingtao
Chengtu
Changchun
Kunming
Tsinan
Fushun
Anshan
Chengchow
Hangchow
Tangshan
Paotow
Tzepo
Changsha
Shihkiachwang
1936
1,222,000
446,000
Urumchi
4,010,000
3,220,000
2,41 I,000
1,427,300
1,598,900
2,146,000
1,840,000
1,772,500
2,121,000
7,000,000
5,000,000
3,6oo,ooo
3,600,000
2,800,000
2,560,000
2,500,000
2,400,000
1,419,000
1,552,000
1,750,000
445,000
155,000
766,400
787,300
1,508,000*
1,310,000
,650,ooo*
I o6,ooo
139,000 (1934)
515,000
5i6,I 13
228,744
145,000
442,000
44i8,ooo
I 18,000
166,ooo
8o,ooo (1931)
589,000
85,00ooo
67,206 (I935)
507,000
6o,ooo
301,000
117,000
Sining
I970
6,900,000
I,I63,000
Nanchang
Kweiyang
Huhehot
2,299,900
1957
I ,o91,6oo
465,000
76,IOI
389,797
Loyang
Nanning
6,204,417
2,768,119
2,693,83I
1,019,000
Tsitsihar
Soochow
Kirin
Siichow
Foochow
Wusih
Hofei
Hwainan
Penki
1953
3,727,000
1,551 ,OOO
1,292,000
527,000
1,379,000
I43,250
160,013 (1935)
359,205 (1935)
272,209
70,000
98,203 (1941)
77,159 (I935)
88,900
83,722 (I935)
55,564 (I946)
80o,ooo ( 943)
397,400
720,700
916,800
856,700
855,200
698,900
680, oo
1,450,000
1,020,000
,350,000
I,121,000
1,300,000
I, 107,000
975,000
880,ooo
862,000
805,00ooo
696,600
693,300
800,ooo
I84,200
650,600
806,000*
703,000
149,400
985,000
766,000
784,000
650,000 (1958)
598,000
668,ooo
373,400
344,700
474,000
435,400
373,000
553,00ooo
616,ooo
270,900
504,000
398,200
581,500
I83,600
286,900
633,000
568,ooo
676,000
5o8,ooo
613,000
304,000
370,000
449,000
171,200
194,600
148,400
93,700
I40,700
,6oo,ooo
699,000
678,600
548,900
594,700
,670,ooo
264,000
314,000
300,000
275,000
1,250,000
1,200,000
I, I00,000
I, I00,000
1,080,000
05,oo,ooo
1,050,000
960,000
950,000
920,000
850,000*
825,000
800,000
760,000
730,000
720,000
700,000
68o,ooo
675,000
66o,ooo
65o,ooo
630,000
6oo,ooo
6oo,ooo
58o,ooo
530,000
500,000
500,000
Source: Chen, Zhongguo Dizhi, or A Geography of China, Vol. I, Part 3 [see reference
in Table II above]. The figures for 1936 are based on various prewar sources. The figures
for I953 are census results, for 1957 official estimates. The i970 estimate was made by the
author based on numerous, if fragmentary, data.
* Increase largely a result of territorial expansion of the city limits.
areas no longer provided sanctuary, and that to avoid being purged

and sent to jail the best policy was to flee to the city, especially to the
larger ones where anonymity was possible.
The economy of China at that time, however, was in a stage of re-
covery; industrialization had not yet begun, and the cities proved incapable of coping with large influxes of people. To avoid difficulties
68
in the cities and to restore agricultural production, the government

had to persuade those already in the cities to go back to the countryside. In point of fact, people who failed to find employment in the
cities found it hard to live there, since most of the daily necessities of
life, especially food, were strictly rationed. As a result, many people
did go back to the rural areas or moved to the remote border regions
as land reclaimers. All this explains why for a short time there was no
perceptible urban growth in China.l4

In addition to a rural-to-urban migration, an urban-to-urban movement exists. In the early phase of industrialization, the new industrial
towns in the interior often suffered fromn a severe lack of skilled man-
power; consequently, the growth of such towns depended mainly on

the skilled labor dispatched from the big coastal industrial centers
such as Shanghai and Tientsin. In the 1950-1956 period the average
annual growth rate of the urban population was 6.43 percent; be-
tween 1957 and 1960 it was 12.2 percent. Now that industrialization is being pushed with vigor following the Cultural Revolution,
the cities are beginning to absorb still more people.
Urban growth in China is rather slow also because the government,
after learning its lesson from the 1959-1961 agricultural crisis, now
tries not to push industrialization at the cost of agricultural production and rural rehabilitation. The present policy is to consider urban
and rural areas of equal importance. An overexpanded city is believed
to be beset with problems, such as crowding, deafening noises, and
industrial pollution. Therefore, China is not eager to see its urban
population increase rapidly and does not believe that urbanization is
synonymous with modernization; instead, the differences between
the urban and rural areas are played down. Urban cadres and many
urban workers serve for periods in the countryside, and efforts are
made to keep the gap between living standards of city dweller and
countryman as narrow as possible.
Throughout the rural areas in China, small factories and power
14 In January, 1950, according to newspaper sources, Shanghai's population was a
little over 5 million; in 1953, when registration was required of all the voters, the city
had a population of 6 million; in April, 1955, the figure had risen to more than 7 million,
of whom only 2,570,000 were actively employed in production, while the remaining 4.5
million were nonproductive or jobless. "From April to October, 1955, a total of 555,000
persons were mobilized for return to the rural area," according to one report (Kuang-
ming Ribao, Dec. 29, 1955). Accordingly, for a period the rural-to-urban migration
slowed down, if it did not completely stop. Roughly estimated, from 1951 through 1953
between 3.4 and 4.5 million persons had moved annually from rural to urban areas.
Urban migration showed a sharp numerical decrease after 1954, and in 1955 the trend
was reversed. However, since 1956 the migration has numerically increased again.
69
stations have been built; roads have been constructed; young intellectuals have been encouraged to settle in rural villages to raise the
cultural level; large groups of "barefoot doctors" serve the health
needs of the people; cultural work corps often go into the country to
stage farmyard shows and to project movies; and first-rate athletes

stage exhibitions in the rural villages. The ultimate aim of all this is,
of course, to instill in the minds of the common people the idea that
there is little difference between a rural village and a city. The reverse of the coin is that in recent years many cities have broadened
their administrative areas to include large tracts of rural land.15
IMPACT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ON URBANIZATION
Industrial build-up and the construction of additional transportation facilities doubtless gave major impetus to the recent urbanization in China. The result is that not only have the existing cities
grown larger, but many new cities have sprung up. Urban growth has
been most striking in the new industrial and communications centers
of the border regions, where both absolute and relative increases have
been large. The rapid growth of Paotow is the best example of how
industrialization has worked in China. In 1938 the city had only

55,536 people and was principally a collecting center for livestock
products (especially wool) from the provinces of northwest China.
Part of the foodstuffs produced in the adjacent irrigation areas were
also channeled through it. Today, Paotow is a huge urban center
teeming with approximately a million inhabitants and is the third
largest steel producer in China, ranking next after Anshan and
Wuhan. Another good example is Lanchow. Its rise from a city of
80,000 inhabitants in 1942 to one of more than two million today is
the result of the coordinated development of industry and transporta-
tion.16 Before 1952 Lanchow was not served by a railway; now it is

the place where four major railways meet and is the converging point
of many trunk highways.
The tapping of mineral resources, especially petroleum, has added

many new places to the economic map of China. One famous example
is Taching, an all-new petroleum center 160 kilometers northwest of
15 The expansion of the municipal area of some cities may be motivated in part by
the desire to reduce urban-rural differences by creating a series of integrated, more or
less self-sufficient, urban-rural units. Several large-scale changes of this type took place
in 1958; the area of Peking, for example, almost doubled, to 17,100 square kilometers.
16 The population of the entire administrative area of Lanchow is more than 2 million; however, the area encompasses large tracts of rural villages, and only 1.45 million
people live in the more narrowly defined metropolitan area.
70
Harbin (Haerhpin). Before its development in 1958, the area was

prairie and swamp land totally devoid of human traces. Suddenly
Taching has emerged as the most important petroleum-producing
center, with an output of about seven million tons of crude oil in
1970 and a population of some 120,000. Another new petroleum cenTABLE IV-NUMBER OF CITIES IN EACH SIZE CLASS
SIZE CLASS 1936 1953 1970

5,000,000
&
over
2,500,000-5,000,000
1,000,000-2,500,000 5 6 15
500,000-I,000,000 5 16 22
250,000-500,000 II 9 38
I00,000-250,000
53
58
104
50,000-100,000 i 6 71 I85
TOTAL 191 173 37?
Source: Chen, Zhongguo Dizhi, or A Geography of China, Vol. II, Part 3 [see reference in Table II above].
ter is Karamai, on the sandy desert in Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous

Region.17 Currently Karamai has about 38,000 inhabitants.
The Chinghai-Tibet Plateau was long inaccessible by modern

highway, but by 1957 it was traversed by three long highways-the
highest in the world-and a little later a number of feeder roads were
constructed. Highway junctions are often the sites of newborn towns
in China. For instance, Koerhmu, at the southern rim of the Tsaidam
Basin, in 1956 had only a sprinkling of people in makeshift tents; now
it is a town of about 40,000. Opposite Koerhmu, on the northwest

side of the Tsaidam Basin, a number of miniature cities have appeared since the discovery of oil; the better known of these are
Lenghu, Mangyai, and Yushashan, all sites of refineries. There are
also cities that owe their existence to forestry, such as Ichun in
Heilungkiang, and cities that owe their boom to reclamation by soldiers, such as Shihhotzu, 140 kilometers west of Wulumuchi
(Urumchi), where the Sinkiang Production and Construction Corps
turned the Gobi Desert into farmland. Sanmensia (Honan) and Sinankiang (Chekiang) are examples of new industrial centers deriving
from the development of hydroelectric power.
The number of cities with populations of more than ioo,ooo is be17 Cheng-siang Chen: Petroleum Resources and Their Development in China, The
Chinese Univ. of Hong Kong, Geogr. Research Centre, Research Rept. No. 5, Hong Kong,
1968; idem: The Petroleum Industry of China, Die Erde [in press].
90?
CITIES OF CHINA,
1970
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71
lieved to be generally correct (Table IV), but it is possible that not

all the cities with populations of 50,000 to 1oo,ooo (especially new
industrial and mining centers so far unreported) have been accounted for. The trends in urban development are quite obvious,
especially with respect to the rapid growth during the period 19531970. Some explanation, however, seems necessary for the situation
during the period 1936-1953. The year 1936, it should be pointed out,
was the year preceding the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War and
the last that can be considered "normal." Then came an eight-year
war against the Japanese, which was soon followed by four years of
civil strife. These twelve long years of war, needless to say, were a
heavy blow to China, and many cities were greatly reduced through
the ravages of conflict or through voluntary or involuntary evacuation. This is why a number of small cities at the conclusion of the war
years had lost their former status, and why in Table IV the number of
the cities with populations of 50,000 to loo,ooo is smaller in 1953 than
it was in 1936.
Other causes than war can lower the status of a city or make it de-
cline. For instance, Shangshui, 155 kilometers southeast of Chengchow and at the confluence of the Ying Ho and the Chialu Ho, both
major northern tributaries of the Hwai Ho, was originally an important river port for the transshipment of commodities from the area
between the south side of the middle reaches of the Hwang Ho and
the Hwai Ho. At one time it had more than 200,000 people. But its
prosperity did not last long. First, the construction of railways in the
area and the gradual switch to land, rather than river, transportation
caused the city's population to drop to a little more than 1oo,ooo.

Then the Nationalist Government in an attempt to cover its retreating troops during a Japanese offensive in June, 1938, ordered its air
force to blast the big dike restraining the flow of the Hwang Ho at
Huayuankow. Once liberated, the waters flowed southward, mainly
along the course of the Chialu Ho, and submerged 44 hsien in an area
of 54,ooo square kilometers in the three provinces of Honan, Anhwei,
and Kiangsu, rendering homeless some 14,500,000 people and drowning about 900,000. Shangshui (then known as Chouchiakou) bore the
brunt of the flood, and its population dropped to 30,000. It was not
until 1953 that its population rose again to 85,ooo. Though once
designated as a shih after its moderate population rise, the city lost
this designation in April, 1958, and was reduced to the status of chen.
Before the Cultural Revolution there had been grave debates over
72
China's policy toward industralization. One faction argued that China

should follow the example of the Soviet Union and push its industrialization on the principle of strict division between labor and mon-
olithic management, embodying such Soviet concepts as industrial

centralization, emphasis on massive industrial projects, and factory
management by experts, and that only the Soviet Union could supply
China with its needed techniques and machinery. The opposing faction contended that for its economic development China must depend on its own resources, including the intelligence of the masses;
that for strategic, psychological, and economic reasons China's industries should be scattered over the country; and that each province,
autonomous region, and, if possible, people's commune should be selfsufficient. The second faction won. It was decided that China should
adopt a policy of "letting flowers bloom all over the land"; that is,
small industrial establishments should rise everywhere in China. "Self
reliance" and "hard struggle" became the watchwords, and there was a
widespread drive to coordinate government- and locally-supported

industries and to give equal importance to large and small industrial
enterprises.18
In the foreseeable future, owing to the enforcement of firm govern-
ment policy, the proportion of urban population will rise only moderately, despite an accelerated program of industrialization and the
continued increase in the absolute number of urban dwellers. On the
other hand, many small towns will emerge as bridges between big
cities and rural areas. Today one can see small factories, small steel
blast-furnaces, small coal pits, and small hydroelectric power stations
in many of the people's communes. Such industries function not only
as the "cells" in which technological skill is taught, but also as a
stimulus to the growth of small industrial centers. If any of these clus-
ters are favorably located or are blessed with other advantages, they
are likely to grow into new industrial centers. Since 1971 China has
been moving with its Fourth Five-Year Plan, and it is widely expected that more industrial cities will be born. To one who studies
the geography of China, the many new developments emerging from
day to day would keep him busy throughout his life.
18 During the First Five-Year Plan development was concentrated in a limited number of cities; the new construction projects were distributed in some 120 cities, and a
majority of the large projects were clustered in eighteen cities. After 1957 a policy of
wider dispersion was favored "and in 1958 and 1959 the construction work was spread
over about 2,100 cities and towns" (Keith Buchanan: The Transformation of the Chinese
Earth [London, 1970], pp. 226-227).

Wiley, American Geographical Society Geographical Review

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Population Growth and Urbanization in China, 1953-1970

POPULATION GROWTH AND

URBANIZATION IN CHINA, 1953-1970

ACENSUS is nothing new in a country like China which has such

livered annually. Up to the beginning of the Sino-Japanese War

Pressed by urgent administrative and development needs after the

formation of the People's Republic, the new government conducted

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

State Statistical Bureau on November i, 1954, showed that exclusive

(Tear-end figures in thousands)

YEAR POPULATION INCREASE OVER PRECEDING YEAR ANNUAL % OF INCREASE

East Asia, Oceania (Novara, I971).

ly resident and legally supposed to be there (the de jure population).

With this census as a basis, we can find the trends of population

able of rapid growth. In addition, a young population meant more

Throughout most of Chinese history, especially when a dynasty

visited-Shanghai and Canton-were scrupulously clean. You might make a diligent

58 THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

coordinate experience and research in contraception. During the

ly because of a temporary labor shortage. Since 1962, birth control

health. The recommended age at marriage is 23 to 27 for women and

It should be noted that birth control is directed principally toward

the Uighurs in the Sinkiang Uighur Autonomous Region pay no

42 percent population increase. The Sibos, a much smaller tribe in

After the census of 1953 the administrative divisions of China un-

8 Cheng-siang Chen: The Administrative Divisions and Their Changes in Post-War

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

the government banned the publication of statistics and the shipping

abroad of most Chinese books and journals. Nevertheless there are

After the tide of the Cultural Revolution (1966-1968) had rolled

urban proportion has increased somewhat, it is still safe to say that

1957 REGISTRATION 1965 ESTIMATE*

17.1 4,0oo 234.5 8,ooo

5.8 6,900 I,I89.7 I I,OO

during the closing period of the Cultural Revolution.

t Excluding the province of Taiwan.

established the criteria for defining the urban population.9 Briefly, an

tions: (1) serve as the seat of the municipal people's committee or

THE GEOGRAPHICAL REVIEW

some explanatory notes seem necessary. The cities designated as shih

Central Government, and at present there are only three-Peking,

\< S^^ . </~ **-. 59.. 'i . ~Chinchow T P?W~~Cheng th

\ ^ yT ' ; \ 1y Si'ai ""1 MUoI^g:*^e.-'

\ \Chengtu Chungkig: iukiag Kingteh

\zekq, I*eikian Shangjao(

\9 } i t ,> * \C han g teh Nanchang o ;.

MU N ICIPALITIES under direct administration of the

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administratively controls ten chul, or districts, and ten hsien. Shanghai

hsien, two controlled seven hsien, one (Harbin) controlled eight

11 A meng is an administrative unit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; it is

12 A chi is an administrative unit in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region; it is

the equivalent of a hsien in other parts of China.

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0 100 200 300 400 500

ample, the population of Pingsiang shih in western Kiangsi was given

To the best of our knowledge, Hainan Island has been bulging

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I\ X.. (" ( ) \ * -V . ]^)nHwanghih/ Hang ow

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