China's Population and Development in the 21st Century

Part I 
Targets for the national population and development program 

-By 2005,Chinais to have its population within 1.33 billion (excluding the population of the Hong Kong and Macao Special Administrative Regions and Taiwan Province). The annual average natural growth of its population should not exceed 9¡ë. Comprehensive medical and reproductive health services are to be offered. Informed choice of contraceptive measures is practiced. The maternal mortality rate is to be reduced to 42 per 100,000 with infant mortality dropping to 31¡ë.Chinawould consolidate and improve its achievements made in the nine-year compulsory education. Priorities would be given to popularizing the nine-year compulsory education in poverty-stricken areas and areas where ethnic minorities live in compact communities. Social needs for senior middle school education in urban and some rural regions would be met, with junior middle school enrollment rate reaching over 90% and higher education enrollment rate further increased. Social security system is to be basically established in urban and some rural areas. 

-By 2010,Chinais to have its population within 1.4 billion and the Chinese people will lead a much better life with an obvious improvement of its population quality. The period of time for the people to receive education would be among the longest in developing countries. The people would have access to basic medical health care and reproductive health services. Informed choice of contraceptive measures is to be practiced widely and the sex ratio at birth is expected to gradually become normal.Chinawould redouble its efforts to solve the problem of ageing of population. A nationwide social security system would basically take shape by then. 

-By the mid-21st century, the total population would reach its peak number of 1.6 billion to be followed by a gradual decrease. The population quality and health level would have an overall improvement, with senior middle school education and higher education popularized nationwide. An efficient and comprehensive social security system will be in place. There will be a more rational population distribution and employment structure. The urbanization would be greatly enhanced. The Chinese people would have a much better life with their per-capita income equaling that of moderately developed nations. With a higher level of its social culture,Chinawill have realized its modernization and achieved a coordinated development of population, economy, resources and environment.

Part II

Reducing Poverty 

Implementing the strategy for the development of the western regions. The policy of slow-down population growth, enhancement of population quality, equitable distribution of population, and the development of human resources should be incorporated into the said strategy so that a coordinated development of economy and population can be reached. Measures should be taken for the east to help the west, for cities to help the countryside, and for developed regions to help the underdeveloped areas. The policy of helping the poverty-stricken people should be made in accordance with the reasons of poverty in different times and regions. The goal should be switched from relieving the poverty-stricken people of lack of food and clothes to helping improve the level of social and economic development of poverty-stricken area. A special policy should be implemented to help the impoverished regions improve their capability for self-development by providing fiscal subsidies, project investment, developing science, technology and education, improving ecological environment, and exporting labor. 

Reducing the population living under poverty line in countryside. Efforts should be made to strengthen the work of relieving poverty by developing economy, science and technology, education, and family planning. The poverty alleviation program should focus on helping the people with the lowest income and the poverty-stricken regions with relatively dense population by improving conditions for living and production, increasing the role of science and technology in agricultural development, and producing market-oriented products and expanding the market. We will realize the goal of popularizing education, improving the level of medicare and the quality of people, and strengthening the ability of personal development. Social security system can be set up gradually in regions with good conditions so as to reduce the rate of falling back to poverty again. 

Preventing pauperization of urban citizens. We will gradually set up and consummate poverty-relief system in cities and carry out the project of reemployment by expanding the ways of employment. We will consummate the basic insurance for the elderly, health care, unemployment insurance and the system of insuring basic living standard for city residents; widely set up working safety insurance and reproduction insurance to relieve the working risks; set up working rehabilitation system to help the injured workers regain the ability to work; set up a social security network of various levels, by encouraging people to help each other and engage in charity, and develop commercial insurance. 

Guarantee the rights of the elderly 

Establishing and improving the elderly support system. The old-age welfare service system should be based on the family supply, supported by the community welfare service and supplemented by the social welfare organizations. We will set up and improve the basic insurance system for the elderly in the cities and towns while mainly adhering to family-based insurance of the elderly in the rural areas. Meanwhile, we should further upgrade the social assistance as well as the "five-guarantee" supply mechanism focusing on guaranteeing food, clothing, housing, medicare and burial service; and gradually establish insurance system combining the country, society, family and individual so as to promote the wholesomeness and the life quality of the old people. 

Creating the sound social environment for protecting the rights and interests of the aged. Efforts should be made to set up and improve the policies, regulations and laws for protecting the rights and interests of the old people, strengthen the supervision by law-enforcement, and fight against the unlawful behavior such as abusing, forsaking and persecuting the old people; carry forward such Chinese traditional virtues as respecting and loving the aged, ensuring their access to the economic supply, medical care, appropriate treatment, study and education, cultural entertainment while providing the old people with a pleasant, warm and peaceful living environment. The old people should be encouraged to learn science and culture, give full scope to their potentials participating into the social life, and cultivate independence and self-assistance. 

Striving to develop industry for the elderly. Efforts should be made to study and develop the products that meet the material and cultural needs of the old people, encourage and lead the development of the market centering on the old-age household consumption; develop the old-age insurance socialized service by industrializing the establishment and development of the social service facilities and network; adopt some preferential measures with regard to taxation and loans to raise funds in a multiple way to develop the industry for the elderly. 

Improve the Ecological Environment for Human Settlement 

Strengthening people's awareness of the coordinated development of population, resources and environment. Efforts should be made to promote the all-round layout of slow-down population growth, environmental protection and resource exploitation to enhance the three above-mentioned factors' support for the economic development, change people's traditional way of thinking and behavior, and take measures such as "putting prevention first, making those who cause pollution to be responsible for treating it and strengthening environmental management" to put an end to the situation in which environment is deteriorating and improve urban and rural environment. Measures should be taken to improve the economic compensation system for paid use of the natural resources and the renewal of resources, enhance the comprehensive use rate of resources and economic profits, stop the destructive exploitation of natural resources, alleviate the controversy between the explosive population, the economic growth and the limitation of the resources. 

Altering the way of life and production. The over-consumption of resources, heavy-pollution, unsustainable way of life and production should be changed to make way for a resource-saving and environmentally-friendly consumption structure and way of production in favor of the sustainable development. 
Protecting the eco-environment in key areas. Efforts should be made to specially protect and improve the ecological environment where human and environmental resources clash sharply. With the city's functional areas built scientifically and rationally, sewage and garbage will be disposed centrally, and clean energy will be adopted to help minimize air pollution. Land, the arable land in particular should be used reasonably and economically. Strong measures will be taken to strengthen the building of the urban environmental infrastructure, regulate industrial structure and lay-out, shun the unpromising way of "first pollution, last treatment", strengthen the prevention and control of the pollution in major river valleys to ensure the security of the drinking water of the inhabitants. Measures should be taken to stop predatory development, and return what have been seized from lakes, forests and grasslands to them, push forward the work of planting trees and grass, treat soil erosion, prevent and control the desertification, establish ecological agriculture, strengthen the protection of natural resources such as arable land, water, forest, grassland and bio-diversity conservation.