SHANGHAI -- China's population shrank last year for the first time in six decades, underscoring a "demographic crisis" that threatens to derail Beijing's ambition to overtake the U.S. as the world's biggest economy.
Falling birthrates and a rapidly ageing population are conspiring to dent China's role in powering the global economy, as regional rival India is on track to take the title of world's most populous country this year, according to forecasts by the United Nations.
