BEIJING -- The population of mainland China surpassed 1.4 billion in 2019, but the country also recorded its fewest births in 58 years, government data released on Friday shows.
The number of births came to 14.65 million, down by 580,000 and marking the third straight annual decline. The figure is the lowest since 1961, when the Great Leap Forward policy resulted in millions of people starving to death.
