Tabe - Rural Population in China by Selected Definition, 1978

Data - Urbanization
Rural Population in China by Selected Definitions, 1978 - 1990
			Rural Population
		Total Population	Pre-1982 Definition		1982 Census Definition		1990 Census Definition		Rural Residents
		million	million	%	million	%	million	%	million	%
	1978	962.59	838	87.1	790	82.1	n.a.	n.a.	811	84.2
	1982	1,016.54	869	85.5	805	79.2	n.a.	n.a.	838	82.4
	1987	1,093.00	895	81.9	584	53.4	n.a.	n.a.	868	79.9
	1990	1,143.33	932	81.5	535	46.8	842	73.6	896	78.4
	Note: We have applied the percentage information in Shen to the official total population numbers from the 1998 China Statistical Yearbook to calculate the urban population in million.
	Source: This table was adapted from information in: Jianfa Shen (1995): Rural Development and Rural to Urban Migration in China 1978 - 1990. In: Geoforum, Vol. 26, No. 4, 395-409 (p. 401)
This table, which was adapted from Jianfa Shen, demonstrates that one can proof almost everything with Chinese urbanization statistics by selecting the appropriate official definition. For instance, according to the 1982 census definition the rural population would have declined from 790 million in 1978 to 535 million in 1990; according to the pre-1982 definition it would have increased from 838 to 932 million.

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Revision 2.0 (First revision published in 1999) - Copyright � 2011 by Gerhard K. Heilig. All rights reserved. (First revision: Copyright � 1999 by IIASA.)