Overpopulation in China curbed! Or is it?

We all love baby pandas. They're just so cute. But at a rate of 5.8 children per woman (total fertility rate) in the 70's, overpopulation seemed to be one of China's most imminent threats. But in this article by the Xinhua news network, China's population control policies are said to have curbed the growth rate significantly. The TFR is down to a stable 1.8 children per woman, the replacement levels have been (marginally) established. Had the growth rate in the 70's continued, said a Chinese minister, the Chinese population would have been an overwhelming 1.7 billion, as opposed to the not quite miniscule 1.3 billion. this is, however, a difference of 400 million people, nothing to sneeze at. (Sneeze at this instead.)

China would be a very different place with 400 million more mouths to feed and people to house. As if China's current growth weren't unsustainable enough, with nearly an extra 33% more Chinese growth itself may have been unsustainable. For these reasons, the Chinese government instituted stringent family planning laws that have since (as the article states) more than halved the birthrate. However, some of these rules are now being repealed or relaxed (most famously the one child policy), so it will be interesting to see how thing pan out in this sense. In my opinion, if China wishes to sustain its economic growth, it will have to continue watching its population growth very cautiously. Compared to Britain and Russia, it has a massive population, and due to Russia's high mortality rate, may have a higher population than both combined. One can even throw Iran in the numbers for good measure. That said, it also has far more massive raw and secondary goods sector, but like Britain, it is expanding into tertiary and quaternary economic activities. The former two favor a high population, while the latter two do not. Depending on the direction the incoming Chinese generational leaders decide to go, China's economic and population related futures may hang in the balance. Until then, I will leave you pandas with the cuter side of overpopulation: