Jilin Province of China, 1949–1979: History of Regional and Demographic Development

Introduction. The history of regional and demographic development of Jilin Province in Northeast China from 1949 to 1979 comprises a number of socioeconomic and urban/spatial changes in the demographic potential of the strategically important border territory. Goals. The paper shall consider some peculiar features of economic processes in the evolution of Jilin Province from 1949 to 1979; identify key trends in ethnic, urban/spatial, and migration processes; determine the causes and consequences of high fertility, low mortality, and a younger age population structure in Jilin Province during the period under review. Materials and methods. The article employs quite a variety of sources on China’s historical demography: population censuses, statistical collections, materials of five-year plans. The synchronous and statistical historical methods have proven most instrumental. Results. The thirty years following the founding of the People’s Republic of China (1949) witnessed an economic strengthening of the strategically important border province. The shaping of its production infrastructure dominated by automotive, petrochemical, fuel and energy, coal, and metallurgical industries did have positive impacts on the demographic situation. Over the thirty years, its population increased by 11,761 thousand people, so did the number of marriages, and the population structure was characterized by a prevalence of the younger generation. The then spatial and urban changes in Jilin would take into account some ethnic characteristics and industrial potential ― never to essentially solve the food problem (through preservation of arable lands). All these factors paved the path to the one-child policy. Conclusions. Jilin’s regional and demographic development from 1949 to 1979 was characterized by increased birth and decreased mortality rates, rapid population growth and that of urban areas, accelerated urbanization, and migrations from other provinces to industrial, forest and rural territories of Jilin.

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