China’s population drops for 2nd year, raises long-term growth concerns

BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s population fell for a second consecutive year in 2023, as a plunging birth rate and a wave of COVID-19 deaths when strict lockdowns ended accelerated a downturn that will have profound long-term effects on the economy’s growth potential.

(Reporting by Farah Master in Hong Kong and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Marius Zaharia and Jamie Freed)