Newswise — China's population decline, announced today. will continue to accelerate given the nation’s fertility and mortality trends, according to Johns Hopkins University sociologist Feinian Chen, who has extensively studied China’s aging population and health.

“China’s recently adjusted three-child policy did little to boost fertility and the COVID-19 pandemic most likely drove fertility further down,” said Chen. “If not for COVID, negative population growth may not have happened last year, but it is bound to happen and will accelerate in the decades to come.”

Chen is a sociologist focused on demography, family sociology, gender, aging, intergenerational relations, population aging, and health.