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China says

skewed sex-ratio could mean instability

BEIJING (Reuters) - China will be home to 30 million more men of marriageable age than women by 2020, state media said on Thursday, warning the gender imbalance, along with an aging population and rapid urbanization, could be destabilizing.

China has about 119 boys born for every 100 girls, an imbalance that has grown since it introduced a one-child policy more than 25 years ago to curb population growth -- a restriction that bolstered a traditional preference for boys.

"The resulting confusion in the social order will become a serious hidden problem influencing social stability," Xinhua news agency said of the gender imbalance, citing a national report on demographics.

Researchers have warned that large sex-ratio imbalances could lead to instability as more men remain unmarried, raising the risks of anti-social and violent behavior.

China's rapidly aging population would also strain social services and the social welfare system, affecting relations between generations and social harmony, the report said.

Already the combination of an aging population and single-child families mean that only-children face the prospect of looking after two parents and four grandparents, a potentially huge financial burden in the absence of a comprehensive pension system.

China is home to more than half the elderly in Asia, and by 2020 the number of those over 60 will reach 234 million, the report said.

Demographic changes are also affecting the work force in China, where a huge pool of cheap labor is one of its key competitive advantages.

But the report said the size of the labor force would peak in 2016 and that "structural shortages of labor" would persist.