牛文元教授告诉我们,要回答中国为什么率先将可持续发展作为国家的基本战略,就必须探讨21世纪中国发展所面对的严重挑战。在新的千年中我国将面临六大挑战:第一个挑战:人口三大高峰的巨大压力。三大高峰首先指的是人口总量。专家们预测,我国人口大约在2040年后会达到15亿至16亿。其次是劳动就业人口的高峰。一方面,人口总量的增加要求就业比例不断加大,另一方面,在现代化建设中占全国70%的农 Professor Niu Wenyuan told us that to answer why China took the lead in making sustainable development a basic national strategy, we must explore the serious challenges that China faces in its development in the 21st century. In the new millennium, China will face six major challenges: The first challenge is the enormous pressure of the three peak population peaks. The first three peaks refer to the total population. Experts predict that our population will reach 1.5 billion to 1.6 billion by 2040. The second is the peak of the labor force. On the one hand, an increase in the total population requires a continuous increase in the proportion of employed people. On the other hand, 70% of the country’s agricultural population in its modernization drive