Family planning policy to stay for now
Print Edition
CHINA has no plans to completely relax its family planning policy, a top health official said yesterday, adding that it would not change in the foreseeable future.
Li Bin, head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, was speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the annual legislative session.
Li said China’s per capita economic output was “considerably low” as was the average living standard. “Our resources pale in comparison with our vast population. Until this changes, we will continue with the current family planning policy,” she said. “There is no timetable for the full relaxation of the policy ... it will continue to be improved and adjusted,” she added.
As of last year, the country’s population numbered 1.375 billion, compared to 320 million in the United States, the world’s largest economy.
China this year allowed all married couples to have two children. This followed an earlier easing of the policy in 2013 that allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.
The latest change ended the “one-child” policy that had been in place since the late 1970s.
The two-child policy will see 3 million more children born in China every year, it has been estimated.
Li said China will have 30 million people more in the workforce by 2050 as a result.
She said the population would peak at about 1.45 billion sometime before 2050, after which it would fall back to 1.38 billion.
Li said the ratio of elderly people in the population would decrease by 2050, though she gave no details.
The family-planning policy is designed to achieve a delicate balance between population, environment and sustained development, she said.
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