China's one-child policy has helped the country cut more than
400 million births since its introduction in the late 1970s, the
country's top population commissioner said yesterday.
The policy was effective in boosting economic development and
improving people's lives, Zhang Weiqing, director of the National
Population and Family Planning Commission, said while addressing an
international seminar on population and development in Beijing.
Zhang said enforcement of the one-child policy and opening to
the outside world in the late 1970s allowed China to develop its
rapidly growing economy.
During the last thirty years, the nation recorded a gross
domestic product that grew 9.6 percent on average each year.
China's GDP totaled US$2.23 trillion by the end of last year.
The policies also enabled the country to rein in excessive
population increases, Zhang said, adding that population-related
issues will further challenge the nation.
China's per capita GDP, which hit US$1,700 last year, still
ranked less than 100th in the world.
A rising population, an unbalanced gender proportion of newborn
babies, the expanding age gap and a large migrant population are
among the problem the country will have to address, Zhang
noted.
Wang Guoqiang, the commission's deputy director, said China's
population will increase annually by eight million to ten million
over the next decade.
According to earlier media reports, China's population will peak
in the 2030s at 1.46 billion. The number of people above 60 is
expected to reach 174 million by 2010, accounting for 12.78 percent
of the total.
Besides, the number of people aged from 15 to 64, or those able
to work, will rise to 940 million by 2020, accounting for about 65
percent of the total, bringing more employment pressure.
(Shanghai Daily November 9, 2006)