A few years ago, the phrase made the rounds that China is getting old faster than it gets rich.
That was the logical consequence of the one-child policy that was in place until 2016.
Apart from that, the costs of educating the few children continued to rise, so that the departure from the strict birth control six years ago did not result in any significant changes.
Now the authorities have announced that China's total population has shrunk for the first time in more than 60 years.
That doesn't mean the country is about to find itself in dire straits.
Xi orders change
But having more children per family is still seen as an obstacle to modest prosperity.
Meanwhile, the number of older people is constantly growing.
They have to be taken care of, which not only poses major problems for the respective families, but also for the state social system as a whole.
The leadership under head of state and party leader Xi Jinping has only one solution to this problem, like any other.
It is ordered that kindly something has to be changed.
This method has not worked in other policy areas.
But since Xi believes he can only rule on this principle, he is unlikely to be impressed by the population turnaround.
In any case, it is his successors who have to bear the brunt of the consequences of his policies and those of his predecessors.