400 million births prevented by one-child policy

Edited and translated by People's Daily Online

The global population will hit 7 billion at the end of this October, according to the 2011 State of World Population Report issued by the U.N. Population Fund on Oct. 26.

As the "Day of 7 Billion" is drawing near, reporters have learned from the National Population and Family Planning Commission that the global population grows by about 80 million people every year. Since China introduced the family planning policy over 30 years ago, the policy has prevented 400 million births, and delayed the "Day of 7 Billion" for five years.

The proportion of China's population to the world's total has dropped from 22 percent in the early stages of reform to 19 percent in 2010. Without the family planning policy, the country’s population would have already exceeded 1.7 billion.

China facing five major population problems

The first problem is the steady growth of its population. The country's population is expected to reach nearly 1.5 billion by 2020.

Second, the overall quality of population is relatively low. China's labor productivity is not only much lower than that of developed countries but also lower than some emerging economies.

Third, the issues in the population structure are outstanding. The overall sex ratio at birth is still relatively high. The aging of population is accelerating.

Fourth, China's population is becoming increasingly mobile. The next 20 to 30 years will be a period when China's urbanization is fully accelerating and China's population mobility is at the largest scale and in the most active period. There will be about 300 million people moving from villages to towns and cities in China during that period.

Fifth, the traditional function of the family is weakening. The size of families continues to shrink and the families composed only of elderly people and single-child families are accounting for larger proportions.

Stick to the birth-control policy

China will still regard the birth-control policy as a fundamental state policy and adhere to it for a long period. China will try hard to guarantee the consistency and stability of the birth-control policy and maintain its total fertility rate at around 1.8.