China Pursues Population Control to Promote Sustainable Development

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, October 18, 2002

China Pursues Population Control to Promote Sustainable Development

The Chinese government and people will continue their efforts to promote sustainable development of the population as well as the economy, resources and environment.

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The Chinese government and people will continue their efforts to promote sustainable development of the population as well as the economy, resources and environment.

Peng Peiyun, deputy-chairwoman of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC) made the remark at the opening ceremony of the Seventh General Assembly of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD), which opened in Beijing Thursday.

The AFPPD, set up on Oct. 30, 1981 in China, is an international inter-parliamentary organization that aims to promote communication and cooperation among government members in Asian and Oceanic nations regarding world population and development.

Peng, who is also head of the Chinese delegation to the assembly, said that while engaged in economic development, the Chinese government had always put great emphasis on population control to improve the quality of Chinese people's lives.

She said China had effectively controlled its excessive population growth in the past, and the birthrate has been kept below the replacement level.

China had also speeded up legislation on population and sustainable development, Peng said. In recent years, the NPC Standing Committee has formulated a series of laws, including the Environmental Protection Law, Land Administration Law, Water Law, Forestry Law, Mineral Resources Law and Law on Health Protection of Mothers and Infants, providing legal guarantees for the country's sustainable development.

Peng said China had also promulgated a Law on Population and Family Planning on Dec. 29, 2001, which would have a far-reaching effect on further implementing the family planning policy, safeguarding the legal rights and interests of Chinese citizens and promoting social progress. The Chinese government had also striven to promote equality between men and women. Peng said the NPC Standing Committee this year had monitored the introduction of the Law on the Protection of Women's Rights and Interests and discussed inspection results at Standing Committee meetings.

On the problem of AIDS, Peng said China attached great importance to the prevention and control of the disease, and the NPC Standing Committee would further fight the disease through supervision and legislation.

As one of the members and founders of the AFPPD, China would, as always, support the forum and make due contribution to the stability of the world's population and world peace, Peng said.

Yoshio Yatsu, chairman of the AFPPD said at the opening ceremony that effective control of excessive population growth was the prerequisite to achieving sustainable development. The AFPPD had played a positive role in promoting population control, environmental protection, prevention and control of AIDS and protection of women, he said, adding that the AFPPD will continue to exert a positive influence on advancing work in this field.

Kunui Waki, deputy executive director of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said in addition to the problem of education and healthcare, which had been improved greatly in the past years in some Asian countries, some new problems like AIDS, food safety and environmental protection had occurred. He said the UNFPA was willing to make concerted efforts with all countries to achieve global sustainable development.

According to a source with the General Office of the Standing Committee of China's National People's Congress (NPC), some 186 parliamentarians and representatives from 28 Asian countries are attending the two-day assembly.

Population plays vital role

The vicious circle of population growth, poverty and environmental degradation, or PPE Vicious Circle, is a major obstacle that will have to be overcome by many developing countries and regions in their drive towards sustainable development.

Li Honggui, a member of the Education, Science, Culture and Public Health Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC), issued the warning on Thursday at the first plenary session of the7th General Assembly of the Asian Forum of Parliamentarians on Population and Development (AFPPD).

Li urged all countries and regions, and Asian developing countries and regions in particular, to attach more importance to the role population plays in sustainable development.

"Many Asian countries have achieved growth and development at the expense of long-term degradation of the environment and overuse and overexploitation of natural resources," Li said, warning that these countries will suffer from "great constraints in the areas of population, natural resources and environment".

"In these countries, poverty leads to population growth and environmental deterioration, and population growth then leads to further poverty and environmental deterioration. Then, the deteriorating environment makes the poor even poorer," he said, adding that such "a vicious cycle" has obstructed sustainable development in many countries.

Li's views won widespread applause from the participants of the AFPPD session. Xu Shuyun, director of the Asia and Pacific Division of the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), said the answer to the question "Is sustainable development possible without a population focus?" is "a simple, self-evident and an emphatic 'No'".

The greater the pressure exerted by overpopulation, the more mouths to feed and provide with basic amenities like safe drinking water, housing, sanitation and clothing, not to mention education, livelihood and healthcare, he added.

Statistics show that the world's population has reached 6.2 billion, with over 3.7 billion living in Asia alone. Every year, some 77 million are added to the global population, and by 2015, another one billion people will have been added to this total. The bulk of this growth is taking place in developing countries, mostly in the world's poorest countries, including those in Asia.

Jyoti Singh, former deputy executive of the UNFPA, said the link between population and sustainable development was neglected by the international community for various reasons.

Fortunately, some Asian counties have carefully considered population as a factor in the formulation of their sustainable development strategies, said Li Honggui, noting that China has implemented family planning and reproductive health programs as an important component in its sustainable development strategy.

According to Li, a coordinated development strategy encompassing population, natural resources, environment and ecology is the essential objective of sustainable development. Population plays a fundamental role in achieving sustainable development.

"By slowing down population growth, the pressure of population on natural resources and ecological environment can be reduced and financial resources can be re-channeled to fund programs on poverty alleviation, the environment and the improvement and enhancement of education, so as to break the vicious cycle called "poverty, population growth and ecological degradation'", Li concluded.

In a related development, the AFPPD 7th General Assembly also held its second and third plenary meetings, discussing the topics of HIV/AIDS control and gender partnership in Asia.

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