Chirac welcomes birth of 1.3 billionth Chinese citizen

French President Jacques Chirac on Friday extended his wishes of "happiness and success" to the 1.3 billionth Chinese citizen, a little boy born two days ago.

"I extend all my wishes of happiness and success to this little boy," Chirac said in a traditional ceremony of New Year good wishes to the press.

The birth of the boy officially declared to be the 1.3 billionth Chinese citizen at 12:02 Thursday morning (Beijing time)in a hospital in Beijing.

More than three decades ago, the Chinese government adopted a family planning policy to rein in the country's runaway growth in population. Demographers hold that if it were not for the policy, the 1.3-billion population would have come in China four years earlier.

Source: Xinhua