China reaffirms one-child policies to keep birth rate low
The Globe and Mail Wednesday 27th April, 2011
China will maintain the strict family planning policy it imposed a generation ago to keep the birth rate low and the economy growing, President Hu Jintao said in remarks before new census data are released.His comments mirror other officials' statements in recent months but confirm no major reforms are pending on the so-called one-child policy introduced in 1980 as a temporary measure to curb surging population growth.China has the world's largest population and credits its family planning limits with preventing 400 million additional births and helping break a traditional preference for large families that had perpetuated poverty. But there are serious concerns about the policy's problematic side effects, such as too few girls and a rapidly aging population.The population is now more than...
Comments
No comments yet for this story