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.     

Sum up experience to make continuous progress

Population control in China has been very successful in combatting the extremely rapid growth in population (birth rate: 1960's 33.65/1000; 1970's 24.57/1000; 1980's 18.3/1000). The female mean age for 1st marriage has increased from 19 in the 1950's to 22.63 in the 1980's. Infant mortality has declined substantially from the 1950's to the present (200 deaths/1000 vs. 81.3/1000 (cities)). Most people have embraced family planning and population control and have emphasized quality of childrearing vs. quantity. The goals of China's policy are as follows: economic development of the nation and well-being of individuals; coordination of population growth and socioeconomic development; implementation not only in accordance with state condition, but also according to the wishes of the people; continued success of the population and family planning organization network; integration of state guidance with individual voluntariness; and strengthening the unified leadership of the state. China's 3rd baby boom began in 1986 and will last through 1995. Unplanned children will count as 30% of the annual births. Government action is attempting to strengthen family planning education and research. These measures will help control the expected population boom.     

The present task of family planning as suggested by the findings of the National Sample Survey of Fertility]

Results from the 1982 census show great progress has been made in the field of family planning because of close cooperation between the people and the government. Under the influence of the high birth rate in the 1950s and 1960s, a large number of youths are reaching the age for marriage each year, and they are bringing heavy pressure on the population growth. As a result of this situation, family planning work is still urgently needed. A great difference exists between cities and rural areas in family planning work. Economic conditions, cultural and educational levels, occupational characteristics, living environments, and concepts of population growth have contributed to this difference. Henceforth, special emphasis should be placed on family planning work in rural areas, so that the large scale population groth in the countryside may be brought under control. In areas of scientific management, propaganda and education, and technical measures for family planning, modern and and progressive methods should be used in order to reach the national goal of controlling population growth.     

Five recommendations for controlling population growth in China]

The rapid population growth rate (2% annually from 1949 to 1978) caused great difficulties for China's national economy because it increased the burden of families, communities, and government. It caused employment problems and slowed increases in living standards and educational levels. The best way to control population growth is based on a combination of political education and effective economic measures. The recommendations are: 1) coordinate employment, food rationing, salaries, bonuses, health treatment, age and condition of retirement, preschool care and education with family planning programs, maintain the elderly's living standard, and give preference to childless and single child families; 2) educate people about family planning and incorporate population growth and family planning into political and economics courses in high school and college; 3) incorporate population control into national economic plans; 4) prohibit families with 3 children and advocate 1 child per couple; and 5) establish a permanent population committee to plan, develop, and implement population policies and related research.     

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.     

Change of population policy and the population situation in China]

A correct population policy is very crucial to the solution of the population problem, economic development, and social progress. The real situation in China now is a large population, a high rate of population growth, and low level of productivity. Facing this situation, China's population policy should include control of population growth in quantity, a promotion of population quality, and a match between population growth and social and economic development for the final realization of the Four Modernizations. In recent years, under the leadership of the National Committee on Family Planning, together with cooperation from various offices at the local level, a great change has taken place in China's population situation. The fertility rate has declined gradually, and late marriage, delayed births, and a reduced number of births have also become popular. A change in the age structure of the population has also slowed the pace of population growth. A reduction in the ratio of women of childbearing age is also helpful in the control of population growth, and the natural growth rate for the population has declined. This change shows that family planning is working in China and great results have been achieved. To come closer to the national goal of population control, practical work should be focused on rural areas. The rural population constitutes about 80% of total population and the fertility rate in rural areas is much higher than that of the cities. If population control can be achieved in the rural areas, the overall goal of population control for the country can then be achieved more easily.     

A grand gathering of model family planning workers in China

At the 1986 National Commendation Conference of Family Planning Vice Premier Wan Li told the 600 participants from all parts of China that the task of controlling population growth during the 6th Five-Year Plan had been accomplished and that the trend of population growth had been held in check. He emphasized the progress made in the field of family planning, noting that family planning is a basic state policy of China and that the government always regarded family planning as a priority concern. Wan Li made the point that the population control stipulated in the 6th Five-Year Plan is of great significance to the promotion of China's 4 modernizations -- socialist construction and the improvement in the living standards of the people -- as well as helpful to the stabilization of world population growth. Recommending a flexible approach to family planning, the Vice Premier urged those engaged in family planning to work to overcome compulsory and coercive approaches. He recommended scientific research devoted to birth control technology and asked family planning workers to give family planning a higher priority in order to assure fulfillment of the plan for population control as outlined in the 7th Five-Year Plan.     

New perspectives on population: lessons from Cairo

The lessons from the 1994 World Population Conference in Cairo, Egypt, are summarized in this publication. The topics of discussion include the evolution of population policies, the changing policy environment, demographic trends, and solutions in the form of gender equity, provision of reproductive health services, and sustainable social and economic development. The program of action supported by 180 governments and targeted for 2015 articulated the goals of universal access to a full range of safe and reliable family planning methods and reproductive health services, a specified level of reduction in infant and child mortality, a specified level of reduction in maternal mortality, an increase in life expectancy to 70-75 years or more, and universal access to and completion of primary education. Other features include goals for improving women's status and equity in gender relations, expansion of educational and job opportunities for women and girls, and involvement of men in childrearing responsibilities and family planning. Steps should be taken to eliminate poverty and reduce or eliminate unsustainable patterns of production and consumption. Population policy must be integrated within social and economic development policies. About $22 billion will be needed for provision of family planning and reproductive health services by the year 2015. Costs will increase over the 10-year period due to the increased population to be served. Per person user costs for family planning alone are higher in countries without infrastructure and technical skills. Actual costs vary with the cost of contraceptive supplies, patterns of use, and efficiency of delivery systems. Although the plan offers 16 chapters worth of advice and recommends 243 specific actions, countries will have to be selective due to cost limitations. The 20/20 Initiative is proposed for sharing social service costs between international donors (20%) and host countries (20%). A separate UN projection of need is for 33% of support from international donors for family planning and related programs. The constraints to the implementation of the action plan are identified as the rate of demographic change, the extent of public support for population limitation and provision of family planning services, and potential conflicts of interests and funding between cooperating agencies. The World Bank has developed guidelines for policy development according to a country's identification as an emergent, transitional, or advanced country.     

A discussion of the effect of development of commodity economy on rural fertility trend in the countryside]

A long-term commodity economy in China, according to this report, will help to improve family planning and to decrease the population. The new economic reforms have brought a commodity economy to rural areas of China and the result is an improved level of productivity and a higher standard of living. At this stage in China's economic development, many couples want to have more than 1 child which they could not afford before. This poses a new problem for family planning objectives. As the economy has shifted from a partially self-contained economy to a commodities-based one, more rural inhabitants want more children for the following reasons: 1) the economic system in China is based on the production of individual households (since agriculture in China today is still carried out by manual laborers, the household productivity rate is determined by the number of laborers it can provide); 2) as rural inhabitants have a higher income than before, they are no longer worried about fines; 3) decentralization reduces the governments financial resources and it is unable to follow through with, e.g., promises of 1-child family incentives and bonuses, and welfare. As a result, families do not uphold the family planning objectives. Family planning will eventually overcome these problems, however, through promotion of family planning campaigns and as the commodity economy advances and becomes more thoroughly developed. The author states that China is currently in the midst of an economic transition period which, once over, will see a decrease in the overall population.     

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.     

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.     

Economic development with limited supplies of family labor: Chinese peasant families in balancing demographic and economic requisites

Family planning (FP) in rural China, particularly the ramifications of the 1-child policy, has profound implications and ramifications for family-centered social and economic life in addition to demographic control. Under a constitutionally endorsed policy of strict birth control, favorable economic opportunities coexisted with the problem of familial labor shortages. Recent reform policies have led to a more relaxed FP environment. The Chinese state is in a dilemma between the need to allow peasant's autonomy in determining the familial work situation and the population pressure on the limited cultivated land. The Chinese experience of rural reform is examined in terms of the complex relationship between population change and economic development which are influenced by the production and welfare activities of the peasant family. The theoretical argument is that a family reliant strategy of economic reform undercuts the effectiveness of population control programs. The ultimate solution lies with sustained industrialization with high labor absorption. National trends and the Dahe People's Commune/Township experience are analyzed. Discussion is focused on the dilemma of FP and family production, old and new evidence of family size and economic performance, welfare outcome of family size, the role of the state in altering the demographic balance sheet, and the strategic response of peasant families to bring families of old designs back and urban migration and proletarianization. It is concluded that there is growing understanding that the causal relationships between population growth and economic development do not clearly support universal population control. Human social organization, not the man/land ratio, shapes the consequences of population growth. The implications for the Malthusian vs. Marxian debate for developing countries are that the resources/population imbalance needs to consider more carefully the human organizational factors. Mao's notions that a revolutionary transformation of the social organization of production in China would resolve overpopulation have since been rectified by opposing ideological positions: changing the basic mode of production through institutional decollectivization and checking population growth with the 1-child policy. This dilemma in rural areas translates to greater productivity and diversification with Chinese families having abundant adult labor and secured by the number of sons. It is difficult to substantiate the benefit of small families for peasants theoretically. Political rewards have been curtailed by economic declines. The peasant family has adapted by reconstituting old family forms and kin networks and by out-migration and nonagricultural employment.     

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.     

The current situation and tasks of China's population control

During the 10 years from the late 1960's to the late 1970's, China's birth rate declined by 50%. Currently, however, China is in the midst of a baby boom. 3 statements characterize the birth rate: The growth rate is high (birth rate is 21.04/1000 in 1987 and natural increase was 14.39/1000); unplanned births are common; and population growth is varied in different areas of the country (10 provinces show 3rd or higher parity births at an average rate of 20%; the highest rate in a province is 45%). Several measures are suggested to deal with these population problems; increase nationwide awareness of population control; stabilize current family planning policies with only special case exceptions; expand contraceptive services and increase scientific research in the area of family planning; and enact economic and social welfare policies in line with population control.     

城市人口和计划生育工作新机制研究

多年来,我国人口和计划生育工作的重点、难点一直在农村。而城市人口和计划生育工作一直走在全国前列,不仅有效控制了人口过快增长,为全国人口控制目标的实现作出了积极贡献,而且创造了许多好经验,对农村起到很好的示范、带头和辐射作用,为统筹解决人口问题打下了良好的基础。但是随着外部环境和工作任务、要求的变化,随着社会主义市场经济体制的建立和城市经济、社会的迅速发展,城市化进程的大大加快,城市计划生育工作开始面临许多新情况、新问题,必须加快改革与创新的步伐。     

Thinking about several problems of the research of our family planning strategy]

On the basis of 1982 census data, it is estimated that from 1987-1997 13 million women will enter the age of marriage and child-bearing each year. The tasks of keeping the population size around 1.2 billion by the year 2000 is arduous. Great efforts have to be made to continue encouraging one child/couple, and to pursue the current plans and policies and maintain strict control over fertility. Keeping population growth in pace with economic growth, environment, ecological balance, availability of per capita resources, education programs, employment capability, health services, maternal and child care, social welfare and social security should be a component of the long term development strategy of the country. Family planning is a comprehensive program which involves long cycles and complicated factors, viewpoints of expediency in guiding policy and program formulation for short term benefits are inappropriate. The emphasis of family planning program strategy should be placed on the rural areas where the majority of population reside. Specifically, the major aspects of strategic thrusts should be the linkage between policy implementation and reception, between family planning publicity and changes of ideation on fertility; the integrated urban and rural program management relating to migration and differentiation of policy towards minority population and areas in different economic development stages. In order to achieve the above strategies, several measures are proposed. (1) strengthening family planning program and organization structure; (2) providing information on population and contraception; (3) establishing family planning program network for infiltration effects; (4) using government financing, taxation, loan, social welfare and penalty to regulate fertility motivations; (5) improving the system of target allocation and data reporting to facilitate program implementation; (6) strengthening population projection and policy research; (7) and strengthening training of family planning personnel to improve program efficiency.     

India's population: second and growing

Attention in this discussion of the population of India is directed to the following: international comparisons, population pressures, trends in population growth (interstate variations), sex ratio and literacy, urban-rural distribution, migration (interstate migration, international migration), fertility and mortality levels, fertility trends (birth rate decline, interstate fertility differentials, rural-urban fertility decline, fertility differentials by education and religion, marriage and fertility), mortality trends (mortality differentials, health care services), population pressures on socioeconomic development (per capita income and poverty, unemployment and employment, increasing foodgrain production, school enrollment shortfalls), the family planning program, implementing population policy statements, what actions would be effective, and goals and prospects for the future. India's population, a total of 684 million persons as of March 1, 1981, is 2nd only to the population of China. The 1981 population was up by 136 million persons, or 24.75%, over the 548 million enumerated in the 1971 census. For 1978, India's birth and death rates were estimated at 33.3 and 14.2/1000 population, down from about 41.1 and 18.9 during the mid-1960s. India's current 5-year plan has set a goal of a birth rate of 30/1000 population by 1985 and "replacement-level" fertility--about 2.3 births per woman--by 1996. The acceleration in India's population growth has come mainly in the past 3 decades and is due primarily to a decline in mortality that has markedly outstripped the fertility decline. The Janata Party which assumed government leadership in March 1977 did not dismantle the family planning program, but emphasis was shifted to promote family planning "without any compulsion, coercion or pressures of any sort." The policy statement stressed that efforts were to be directed towards those currently underserved, mainly in rural areas. Hard targets were rejected. Over the 1978-1981 period the family planning program slowly recovered. By March 1981, 33.4 million sterilizations had been performed since 1956 when statistics were 1st compiled. Another 3 million couples were estimated to be using IUDs and conventional contraceptives.     

A preliminary analysis of negative population growth in Taicang County]

This report attempts to analyze the negative population growth and its significance in Tai-Cang County, China. Based on population data provided by local Tai-Cang authorities, family planning effectively lowered the birth rate from 11.9% between 1960-1969 to 3.0% between 1979-1983. The rate of single-child families grew enormously while the number of 2-child families reached a record low. Families with more than 2 children virtually vanished by 1983. Moreover, while a younger marriage age in 1981 and 1982 contributed to a slight increase in the birth rate, new marriage laws in 1983 caused an older marriage age and acted to lower the birth rate due to the fact that mothers were bearing children at an older age. A change in population components also influenced this low birth rate: the county population below the age of 14 is 21.2% compared with 33.6% nationally; however, the percentage of the population in this county over the age of 65 is 8.5% while the national figure is 4.9%. Finally, the marriagable population of females (i.e., 23 years old) was slightly lower between 1982-1984 due to the low birth rate seen from 1959-1961. The findings indicate that family planning is effective in lowering birth rates along with late marriages and older childbearing ages. The negative population growth in Tai-Cang County, however, is a temporary phenomenon. The indications are that the problems and shortcomings of family planning must be overcome, regional population planning must be improved, and the study of eugenics and optimum population reinforced. The report also notes that the population trend is toward aging.     

Socialist spiritual civilization enhances consciousness in family planning

Since 1985, there have been no cases of coercion in the practice of family planning and yet also no unplanned births among the over 1200 members of the Chinese Communist Party in Hunan Province's Fuxing Township. Ideological work is aimed at demonstrating that fertility control is in the interest of both individuals and the state. All township cadres are asked by the government to take the lead in practicing family planning, publicizing population policies, and assisting in solving the difficulties of the masses. They are further expected to take the lead in the provision of 5 services: 1) publicity about population theory and family planning policy; 2) birth control training and provision; 3) management and distribution of contraceptives; 4) maternal-child health services, including free health check-ups for the 870 children in the township and follow-up visits to the 2100 women who have undergone tubal ligation; and 5) development of social welfare and assistance to 1-child households.     

Mexico's population policy turnaround

Until 1972 Mexico's officials seemed to believe that the annual population growth rate of 3.5% was not really a problem as long as the economic development rate could be kept ahead of the population growth rate. The General Law of Population of 1947 was actually promoting population growth. It was only during the 1960s that elite opinion shifted, and privately funded family planning programs became increasingly active. By 1972 the population had reached 54 million, from 20 million in 1940. President Echevarria, till then a traditional pronatalist, announced in 1972 the creation of a national family planning program, and, in 1974, the creation of a national population council. Since then the Mexican government has embarked on ambitious programs of mass communication and sex education to make the population receptive to its new attitudes. The plans have worked: by mid-1979 estimates put the population growth rate at 2.9%, within sight of the 2.5% target set for 1982 by new president Lopez Portillo. According to a survey conducted by the National Fertility Survey, by late 1976 41.50% of Mexican women of childbearing age were practicing contraception. Within the 41.50% of active contraceptors, 14.9% use the pill, and 7.8% the IUD. New channels of information and of contraceptive delivery are being explored to reach Mexico's widely scattered rural population, and to bring the average family size down to 2 children from the average of 6.5 children per woman for 1973-1975. The government goal is of a 1% population increase by the year 2000.