China will adhere to the country's family planning policy in the
long term, the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee explained at a
conference in Beijing Thursday.
The conference, presided over by General Secretary of the CPC
Central Committee Hu Jintao, described family planning as a key
factor in economic and social development.
The meeting urged continued research on population development
strategies, improvement of population quality based on a low
birthrate, better technological and service levels in family
planning and controlling a rising gender imbalance.
The focus of population and family planning efforts should shift
from just controlling the numbers to stabilizing the low birthrate,
it said.
China would now have 400 million more people if the policy
decreeing most couples could have only one child had not been put
in place, official statistics show. The country's population
officially reached 1.3 billion in January last year. Formulated in
the early 1970s the family planning policy encourages late
marriages and childbearing.
Yesterday's meeting also decided to convene the annual Central
Working Conference on the Economy in the near future.
Although significant achievements had been made in the economic
arena this year some deep-rooted problems including an unbalanced
economic structure and inefficient growth pattern hadn’t been
effectively addressed, the meeting said.
The government should continue to improve its economic
macro-control policies next year, further boost reform and
opening-up, step up the conservation of resources and better
protect the environment, the meeting said.
It called for further efforts to push forward economic growth in
a fast and sound manner so as to create a good environment for the
17th CPC National Congress scheduled for the latter half of next
year.
(China Daily/Xinhua December 1, 2006)