简体中文
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao on Tuesday said China will stick to its family planning policy, but will improve the population policy to promote long-term and balanced growth.
The premier's remarks respond to the country's demographic changes, including decreasing labor force and growing elderly population.
PKG
Wen made the remarks in a government work report delivered to the opening of the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature.
Wen said China should adhere to the basic state policy on family planning.
But he also said the country will solve problems relating to the size, health, structure and geographical distribution of its population.
In a bid to promote long-term, balanced population development.
To rein in its surging population, China launched it's family-planning policy in the 1970's.
Since then, China's population growth rate has been largely decelerating.
But with changes in the size and structure of China's total population,
analysts said it is reasonable to improve the population policy.
Data from the National Bureau of Statistics in January showed the number of laborers on the Chinese mainland between the ages of 15 and 59 decreased by 3.45 million year on year in 2012.
Which marks the first "absolute decrease" in China's labor force.
Besides, the country's growing elderly population aged 60 and over reached 194 million at the end of 2012, accounting for 14.3 percent of the total.
And imbalance in the sex ratio at birth is another problem although it is declining.
In 2012, China registered a sex ratio at birth of 117.7 boys for every 100 girls, much higher than the normal ratio of 103 to 107 boys for every 100 girls.
Statistics from the Ministry of Health showed the country saw an annual increase of 76,000 families who lost their only child and that the total number of such families had exceeded one million.
There have been calls to adjust the one-child policy which has been carried out for more than 30 years to curb the rapid population growth.
It is estimated the policy has resulted in a reduction of some 400 million people in China.
Now these demographic changes mean a transitional period is coming for the population policy.
