Population goal set for China's new five-year plan

China's 7th Five-Year Plan recommends that China's total mainland population be held within the limit of 1.113 billion, with an annual average natural growth rate of about 12.4/1000. As a large number of youths will reach marriage and childbearing age during the course of the 7th Five-Year Plan, the Plan affords a high priority to the family planning program and to the control of population growth. The plan proposes 5 policies and measures to realize its goal: continuous efforts need to be made to give family planning a high priority; late marriage, late childbearing, and the 1-child family should be advocated; ideological and political education should be strengthened; scientific and technological research devoted to family planning should be intensified; and family planning communication and service centers at the county level should be consolidated and strengthened, and the family planning program should be conducted systematically and be ongoing.     

陕西未来人口发展趋势分析

自上世纪70年代大力开展计划生育以来，陕西在控制人口增长方面取得了较为显著的成绩，人口生育率进入到低生育水平时期。进入“十一五”．陕西制定了国民经济和社会发展计划，提出到2020年全省总人口控制在4050万以内．确保人均国内生产总值达到3500美元。本文将依据2005年1％人口抽样调查资料，采用年龄移算法．对陕西省2006-2030年的人口发展规模、人口生育率、人口增长率、人口年龄构成变化、育龄妇女变化等进行科学准确的测算。提出了在低生育水平下．人口与计划生育工作出现的新情况、新问题，是构建社会主义和谐社会、落实科学发展观大环境下人口与计划生育工作者面临的新的机遇和挑战。     

Implementation of China's population policy

On July 1, 1982 China's 3rd national population census reported the population of the 29 provinces, municipalities, and autonomous regions on the mainland at 1,008,175,288, showing a net increase of 460,000,000 or 84% over the 548,000,000 recorded at the end of 1949. At this time China's population is about 1/4 of the world. Its population policy must conform to her national conditions and will be successful only to the extent that it does so. Discussion focuses on the main features of China's population policy. In 1953 the State Council instructed the Ministry of Health to support birth control by providing contraceptives. It also ratified provisions concerning contraception and induced abortions. In 1962 the State Council issued "Instructions on Conscientious Advocacy of Family Planning." China not only advocates and publicized family planning but also takes specific measures. Special administrative organizations were established in 1964 to oversee scientific research, production, and supply of contraceptives and to provide couples of childbearing age with free contraceptives. An all round attack on family planning work in 1966 led to unchecked childbirth resulting in rapid population growth. In 1971 Premier Zhou Enlai reiterated the importance of population control in 1971 and asked that it be incorporated into the 4th Five Year Plan for the development of the national economy. Family planning was incorporated into the Constitution in 1978. China's 20 years of experiences with family planning suggest that a country's population policy becomes effective only with repeated efforts. The 10-year period of turmoil undermined the enforcement of the population policy. Recently the State Family Planning Commission organized a nationwide fertility survey which indicated tremendous successes for China's population control drive. The total fertility rate dropped from 5.29 in the 1950s to 2.63 in the 1980s. The population census shows that the momentum of China's population growth cannot be checked without strict measures because the population is characterized by a huge base figure, a young age composition, and a fertility rate much higher than a population replacement level. China's population policy is formulated in line with her national conditions. Specific provisions for family planning reflect different ways to deal with different people.     

Shuangyang County popularizes contraceptive knowledge

Shuangyang County is located in the southeast of the Changchun City, Jilin Province, with a total population of 385,000 and a total area of 2,000 square kilometers. The rural population makes up 96% of the total with 8.2% minorities. As the county government vigorously promoted the family planning program in the period of the 6th Five-Year Plan, the rapid growth of the population was effectively controlled. Since 1982, the county government has put the emphasis of the family planning work on publicizing scientific knowledge, on provviding technical services and on training the working staff at the grass-roots level. In response to the different needs of the community for knowledge about premarriage, preconception, and postnatal cares as well as infant feeding, the county government started a program in 1985 for popularizing knowledge about puberty, hygiene, sexual physiological hygiene, pregnancy care, and birth control. As a result, a number of young people have delayed their former marriage date to the ideal marriage age. Many newlyweds voluntarily chose the most proper age for giving birth. To improve the effectiveness of contraception, the county government promoted widely the use of a new type of IUD. Finally, the county government believes that it is most important to improve the quality of the family planning workers at the grass-roots level. Accordingly, the government worked out a plan to train the community workers regularly.     

Grasp the work of family planning by unifying thinking and stabilizing the policy

The China Population Information and Research Center reported that in 1988 the number of childbearing women between 20 and 49 was 4.65 million above 1987, but the population growth rate was 0.19 lower than in 1987. Controlling the population is still a difficult problem. The 3rd baby boom of New China; economic, cultural, social, and other factors; and the uneven progress of family planning are cited as causes of the lack of control. The 13th Party's Congress in 1989 plans to work to reform family planning and control population growth. In particular, late marriages and childbearing will be promoted; in cities, one-child-per- couple will be policy; in rural areas, only girl households will be allowed another child only after several years; local family planning regulations will be supported; and research on family planning and safer, longer acting contraceptives will be financed.     

人口和计划生育基层网络在基本公共服务中的作用研究

党的十七届五中全会通过的我国国民经济和社会发展第十二个五年规划中,明确提出推进基本公共服务均等化,加强社会管理能力建设,创新社会管理机制的工作要求。围绕相关概念的解析,结合我国人口和计划生育基层网络体系的功能、特点和优势,指出人口计生基层网络在新形势下必须完成其职能定位的转变,明确提出人口和计划生育基层网络在基本公共服务中的作用和服务内容,对于我国人口和计划生育基层网络的未来的功能定位和工作内容开展有一定的借鉴意义。     

Republic of Korea. Country feature

The Government of Korea's 5th 5-Year Economic and Social Development Plan (1982-86) seeks to reduce the population growth rate from its 1982 level of 1.58% to 1.49% by 1986; it is assumed that the population replacement level of fertility (total fertility rate, 2.1) will be attained in 1988. The task of achieving these demographic targets is expected to be made more difficult by factors such as the impact of the 1950s baby boom and widespread son preference. New population control policy measures announced in 1981 call for improvements in the current family planning program management system; a new social and institutional support system to inculcate the small family size norm; strengthened information, education, and communication activities for family planning; and establishment of coordination among the government organizations involved in population-related activities. Numerous social support measures have already been put into effect, including income tax exemptions for up to 2 children, inclusion of population education in the school curriculum, priority in alloting public housing to sterilization acceptors with 2 or fewer children, and provision of IUD services through the medical insurance system. The number of contraceptive acceptors in the government program increased 78.3% from 1981-83, from 614,000 to 1,094,600. Sterilization and menstrual regulation services have shown particularly sharp increases. Program achievement for 1983 was equivalent to 19% of eligible women ages 15-44 years. The total fertility rate stood at 2.7 in 1982. Major efforts now must be directed toward eradicating the strong parental son preference and ensuring better family planning program efficiency and effectiveness.     

To raise the family planning work to a new level--a comprehensive introduction to the National Family Planning Working Conference]

The National Family Planning Working Conference convened on August 10-16, 1982 in Beijing, China. Among the 250 conferees were family planning representatives from various provinces, cities, autonomous regions, the People's Liberation Armt, representatives of partial progressive areas, counties, communes, the Central Committee, State Council, All China Women's Federation, All China Federation of Trade Unions, journalists and population theorists. Topics of discussion included the current situation of family planning work, how to implement the Central Committee's directive on improving family planning work, and the relationship between population law and population development by the year 2000. On August 18 Premier Zhao Ziyang told various representatives at a meeting that population control was a longterm national policy and emphasized its importance in long-range economic and social planning. The Vice-premier of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Wang Shoudao, implored the representatives to understand the directive's contents and said family planning would serve later generations. The Chairman of the National Family Planning Commission, Quian Xinzhong, reviewed the current population situation, noting the encouraging fact that the birth rate for the first 6 months of 1982 was higher than the first 6 months in 1981 by only 1/1000. In order to raise birth control work to a new level, he suggested the following steps: strengthen family planning propaganda; strenuously follow the policy of 1 child per family; obtain permission to have a 2nd child; oppose unplanned births; establish various birth control responsibility systems; and improve contraceptive research and techniques.     

The National Conference of Propaganda Work on Family Planning held Beijing]

The National Conference on Propaganda Work in Family Planning, held in Beijing from November 1-6, 1982, was sponsored by the the Propaganda Department of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee and the National Family Planning Committee. Among the 136 participants were representatives from various provincial, city, and autonomous region propaganda and family planning units, the General Political Department of the People's Liberation Army, general trade unions, All China Women's Federation, Communist Youth League, and propaganda reporters. The purpose of the conference was to discuss how to organize family planning propaganda in meeting China's goal of limiting the population to 1,200,000,000 by 2000, and how to arrange a Family Planning Propaganda Month for early 1983. The Chairman of the National Family Planning Committee made 3 points: family planning is a basic national policy, greater propaganda efforts must be made towards peasant family planning, and everyone must work hard to create a new situation in family planning work. The Vice Minister of the Propaganda Department remarked that family planning propaganda was foremost among the 12 national propaganda topics; these sentiments were supported totally by the representatives of the women and youth groups. The Vice Chairman of the Advisory Committee of the Central Committee said that family planning work was longterm, and that its success lay in the countryside. Finally, the Vice Chairman of the National Family Planning Committee encouraged all delegates to take the spirit of the conference back to their home. During the conference delegates also met to discuss important points in planning the Family Planning Propaganda Month.     

[An analysis of population growth during the Seventh Five-Year Plan period].]

Population trends in China during the period of the Seventh Five-Year Plan (from 1986 to 1990) are analyzed. It is noted that, because of the high fertility rates prevalent during the 1960s, an increase in the birth rate following 1986 was to be expected. The author considers the cumulative effect of this change in fertility, the trend toward earlier marriage, and the increase in internal, primarily rural-urban, migration. Some possible measures to control population growth in these circumstances are enumerated.     

广州市2006—2020年人口预测与分析

户籍人口、迁移人口和常住人口的变动及趋势预测是各级政府进行国民经济和社会发展规划的重要指标。本文通过建立人口预测方程,对广州市户籍人口的总量和结构进行了全面的预测分析,并深入研究了人口迁移对广州市人口增长与人口结构的影响,最后,利用阻滞增长模型对广州市常住总人口进行了预测分析,预测结果供广州市政府制定十一五规划参考。     

A better future is ahead of us

China's family planning program is implemented under the unified leadership of the Chinese government. The main responsibilities under this program are to set up and strengthen family planning offices at all levels, formulate relevent laws and regulations, work out programs, principles, and policies for population growth, carry out intensive publicity and education, speed up scientific and technological research on family planning, and mobilize all the people and related departments to support the work of family planning. Family planning in China is practised on a voluntary basis. Education on patriotism is conducted among the people to enable them to see that strict control of population growth and conscious practice of family planning according to policy have a crucial bearing on China's prosperity and well being. As shown in practice, China has not only succeeded in maintaining sustained and steady economic growth, but has also succeeded in drastically reducing the population birth rate, death rate, infant mortality rate, and in extending average life expectancy. This demonstrates the superiority of China's socialist system. To control the growth of the population is an extremely arduous task. However, as long as China keeps to a practical and effective policy, the goal of keeping the total population at around 1.2 billion by the end of the century can be attained.     

Speech at the UN International Conference on Population,Mexico City,August, 1984

In seeking a solution to its population problem, China, as a developing socialist country, has been making unremitting efforts to develop economy while controlling the rapid growth. The objective is to control rapid population growth so that population growth may be in keeping with socioeconomic development and commensurate with utilization of natural resources and environmental protection. In the past decade, and particularly since 1979, China has made much progress in developing economy and gained remarkable successes in controlling population growth. The natural population growth rate dropped to 1.15% in 1983, from 2.089% in 1973. Living standards have improved with a gradual annual increase of per capita income. All this proves that the policy of promoting family planning to control population growth along with planned economic development is correct. In China family planning is a basic state policy. The government has advocated the practice of "1 couple, 1 child" since 1979. This does not mean that 1 couple could have 1 child only in every case. The government provides guidance for the implementation of family planning programs in the light of specific conditions such as economic developments, cultural background, population structure, and the wishes of the people in different localities. The requirements are more flexible in rural than in urban areas and more so among the people of national minorities than among the people of the Han Nationality. In rural areas, couples who have actual difficulties and want to have 2 children may have a 2nd birth with planned spacing. In carrying out its family planning program, China has consistently adhered to the principle of integrating state guidance with the masses' voluntariness. The government has always emphasized the importance of encouraging the people's own initiatives, through publicity and education, which is the key link in implementing the family planning program.     

Comrade Mao Ze-dong's contribution to Marxist theory on population--in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the birth of the Chinese Communist Party]

Is it good or bad to have a large population in China? Comrade Mao Ze-dong said "it is good and it is also bad." Our population is an asset, and we should use this asset and wisdom in our nation's "Four Modernizations" program. On the other hand we should control the population growth and reduce the resulting burden. Marxism recognizes 2 types of production, material production and human production. Both are interrelated, mutually dependent, and beneficial. Comrade Mao criticized concepts and practices that disregard the interrelationship of these 2 types of production. According to Comrade Mao both types of production should be included in the national economic plan, and the proportions of material production and human production should be the basic proportions of our socialistic economic development. Comrade Mao mentioned that population growth should be planned to fit and benefit social development. He suggested establishment of a series of family planning offices or committees to study and implement the family planning program, to develop a longterm plan, to consider the people's wishes in family planning, to meet the people's requirements and desires, to educate people about family planning, and to recommend government funds for the program.     

Preliminary achievements of China's national economy development and family planning]

A preliminary view of the population control policies of the People's Republic of China is the subject of this report. The report maintains that population control policies are closely linked to economic growth and indicates that criticism by the West of these policies is unfounded. According to an investigation of 1000 married women of child-bearing age carried out in 1981, 19.1% of them have 1 child, 21.4% of them have 2, 49.5% have 3 and only 9.9% of them have no children. This would seem to refute the West's idea of the "1 child only" policy as strict and clear-cut. The report maintains that economic growth and family planning are functions of one another. Although China has made marked progress in population control, its population problem is still far from being resolved as population growth is still relatively high compared to productivity. The marriageable population is extremely high and increase in population create a burden on education, employment, transportation, welfare, housing and medicine each year. The trend in rural areas (which make up 80% of China's population) to have larger families to produce more labor must be reversed in order to make population control objectives feasible. Thus, the need for China to continue its efforts to promote rural economy and family planning must continue. The needs for improvement in promotion and family planning education as well as for improved medical conditions are also evident.     

Minister Wang Wei on family planning policy and population aging

Mr. Wang Wei, Minister-in-Charge of the State Family Planning Commission, was interviewed by the correspondent of the magazine "Outlook Weekly" on the 16th of last July in Beijing. Mr. Wang Wei said that the aging process of China's population could not be separated from the family planning program which was an important factor leading to China's population aging. He also said that population aging in China would have its limit as any development does. The aging of China's population is the manifestation of the contradiction between the unplanned and planned reproduction of its population. Population aging will disappear as soon as the contradiction is settled. Since the aging of China's population is caused by the decrease of children, one cannot only see the social burden aggravated by the relative increase in elderly population but should also see the social burden alleviated by the decrease in the absolute number of children. Only by doing so can one see the whole picture. The allegation made by some people that the social dependency ratio would increase due to population aging is groundless. Mr. Wang Wei does not agree with the viewpoint that China may relax its policy of family planning to some extent on the ground that population aging causes the decrease in the total social dependency ratio so as to ease the difficulties brought about by the rapid population aging. The basic state policy of striving to quadruple the gross output value of industry and agriculture and to control China's population at about 1.2 billion at the end of the century is the correct policy to solve the problem of population aging in China, and it is also the only alternative.     

21世纪初的计划生育工作探讨

本人通过对中国巨大的人口压力、计生工作的艰巨性和基层计生工作的薄弱环节等因素分析 ,认为21世纪初中国计生工作的主要任务是控制人口增长 ,稳定低生育率 ,并建议增加计生事业投入 ,加强基层计生干部队伍和服务阵地建设     

计划生育家庭福利政策改革思路研究

随着经济体制变革、社会结构变动、利益格局调整等不断深化,传统家庭功能面临严峻挑战,计划生育家庭问题尤为突出。家庭是国外为数不多的福利扩张领域,也应是我国福利"增长"的优先领域。计划生育家庭福利改革框架包括三个层面:一是针对因执行计划生育国策而产生的确定性风险或不足,在养老保障个人账户下建立计生子账户,实现国家补贴直接送达家庭;二是针对因特有概率事件而形成的不确定性风险建立政策性生育保险,并覆盖农村育龄群体;三是明确计划生育/生殖健康服务作为国家基本公共服务的属性。     

Radio: a strategic tool for development

Every country should recognize the need to fully involve media leaders in the planning and implementation of population and family planning programs. Broadcasters are the best equipped to understand the "mind-set" of the mass audience and what is needed to bring about changes therein. If there is to be involvement of the media, particularly radio professionals, in the design, development and implementation of population and family planning programs, attention must be given to the inmplications of this in terms of implementing the World Population Plan of Action. Strategies for population communication using radio as the central medium include the following: 1) development of an adequate in-country support structure; 2) development of a sound, well-researched population communication program; 3) on-air programming in the form of instruction rather than entertainment; 4) provision for substantial and continuous feedback from the audience; 5) frequent broadcasts at a prime time of day; and 6) a program commitment of from 5 to 6 years. Radio needs to be recognized as a strategic tool for development; it should be used professionally and should receive sufficient priority by funding agencies.     

Survey of the population development of the minority Li of the Hai-nan Island]

Hai-nan Island is under the jurisdiction of Guangdong Province and has a population of 5,520,000, of which 85% belong to the Han ethnic group, and 13.4% to the Li ethnic group, and there are other small minorities. Since 1949, the population of Hai-nan Island has more than doubled, and a serious population problem exists. Among the minorities, the population growth for the Li people in 1 autonomous region of the Island has been very rapid for 2 reasons: 1) the large number of immigrants moving in from other places, and 2) a high fertility rate among the Li people. In order to slow down the rate of population growth on the Island, the 1st step should be to slow down the growth rate of the largest ethnic group, the Han people. The Li people live mainly in rural and poor areas, and their production level has been very low. In the past 30 years, tremendous progress has been made to improve the health care and livelihood of the Li people. Before 1949, the total number of Li people was only 300,000. By 1980, the Li population had increased to more than 740,000, more than doubling the 1949 figure. This rapid population growth has helped economic development in the areas inhabited by the Li people. On the average, each household in the Li autonomous region has 5.3 children. In order to further improve the living standard of the people, family planning is needed for the Li community. The traditional belief of having more children is currently undergoing a change in the minds of the Li people. The policy of offering economic reward to those who follow family planning regulations is working, and more work is needed to curb rapid population growth.