From: CSubject: China Population growth rate China population continues to grow ________________________________________________________________________________ Copyright (c) 1997 Nando.net Copyright (c) 1997 Reuter Information Service BEIJING (Mar 10, 1997 2:49 p.m. EST) - China's population growth rate fell slightly in 1996 but the world's most populous nation still needs to improve birth control policies in rural areas, the China Daily said Monday. The natural population growth rate was 10.42 per thousand in 1996, a slight drop of 0.13 per thousand from the year before, the newspaper quoted the State Statistical Bureau as saying. China had 1.224 billion people at the end of 1996, up 12.68 million from the year before, the bureau said. "The birth rate has dropped ... and the regional differences in family planning work have narrowed," the newspaper quoted Minister of the State Family Planning Commission Peng Peiyun as saying. But authorities could not ease implementation of Beijing's strict birth control policy because many areas were still seeing a boom in child births, said President Jiang Zemin. "Family planning is still difficult in the countryside, especially in underdeveloped regions," the China Daily quoted Jiang as saying. "An effort must be made to ensure that the country's population is held to 1.3 billion by the end of the century," Jiang said. China fines urban families that have more than one child but has relaxed its policy slightly in rural areas. Authorities should use incentives such as financial and technical aid to encourage families in poor villages to have fewer children, Jiang said. China launched its birth control policy in 1979 when its population swelled to nearly one billion after 20 years of promotion of big families by Chairman Mao Tse-tung, who believed a large population could make China strong. Beijing has come under fire from human rights groups and foreign governments who say officials use forced abortions and sterilization to check population growth. China denies such accusations and says its tough policy is justified by the need to feed 22 percent of the world's population on just seven percent of its arable land. - message sent by infoterra@cedar.univie.ac.at to signoff from the list, send an email to majordomo@cedar.univie.ac.at the message body should read signoff infoterra your@email.address -