Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday said the country should continue keeping a low birth rate for its sustainable development.

The country should also take comprehensive measures to address the problem of gender disproportion among the newly-born, said Li, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

He told a conference on population and family planning that China's family planning policy had greatly promoted its economic development and social progress, and meanwhile also made significant contribution to the world's population and development cause.

However, he cautioned that in the next few years, China's population would still record a growth of about 8 million every year, and the country should stabilize the low birth rate and comprehensively solve the population problem.

He also urged taking precaution against birth defect and improving the quality of the new-born population for the society's harmony and stability.

Li stressed the importance of studies on strategic issues including the long-term development trend of the population, its rational distribution and ageing to make the population and family planning work more predictable and scientific.

(Xinhua News Agency September 12, 2008)