The aim of our paper is to highlight some of the trends that mark the development of China's population and the challenges they pose to the authorities in terms of social policies.

In that sense, we analyze the effects of economic modernization on the spatial distribution of the population; the issue is crucial, to the extent that the transition from a predominantly rural population to one increasingly urban is considered by the Chinese authorities as one of the key means to reduce disparities between different sectors of the population. Our study emphasizes the differences in social change among different provinces, in order to assess the scale of the challenge faced by the authorities.