Date:   July 2, 1999

Source:   State Family Planning Commission

Subject:   family planning programme

Dear Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, Friends,

Today I am very pleased to have this opportunity to visit the Population Council, and to discuss population issues of international concerns with friends in the circle of demography. I would also like to give brief introduction to China’s population and family planning program, with some of my personal views on it. I welcome your comments and advice.

1. Comparison between the population of China and that in the United States

It is well known that China is a developing country with the largest population in the world, and the United States is the most developed country. The two countries have different social systems, ethnic values. The issues of population the two countries address are also of difference. According to the State Statistics Bureau, China’s total population had reached to 1.248 billion by the end of 1998 (excluding those in Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao). The statistics by the Population Reference Bureau shows that the total population of the United States in 1998 was 270 million, less than one fourth of that in China. The 1.248 billion people in China are distributed in an area of 9.6 million square kilometers with the population density of 130 persons per square kilometer. However, the 270 million people of the States are distributed in an area of 9.37 million square kilometers with the population density of 28.8 persons per square kilometer. In China 70% of people are rural residents, while the rural population of the United States accounts for only 3%. China’s per capita GNP of 1996 was US$750, but the per capita GNP in America was US$ 28,020, which is 37 times higher than that of China. These figures shows that China’s population is four times as much as that in the United States, while America’s per capita GNP is nearly 40 times higher. From these comparisons we can see that the development of population has very close connections with economic growth. Of course, the fast development of the American economy has had many reasons, one of the primary ones has been the getting together of the talented manpower and the application of the modern science and technology. Meanwhile, the slow growth of the population in the States has been a great contribution to its concerted process between the socioeconomic development, resource preservation and environmental protection. Imagine China had only 300 million people, given the GNP value of 1996, China’s per capita income would be much higher than that of now, although it would not at the same level with that of America. Here are some more interesting data I would like to share with you. Population distribution in China is rather uneven: the west region accounts for 57.1% of the total land, but with only 5.4% of the population; the east region has 42.9% of the land area and a population of 94.4%. The differences between the two parts not only lie in population distribution, but also in economic growth and allocation of natural resources. In China most poor people are living in the southwest and northwest regions. In contrast, America enjoys a relatively balanced population distribution between west and east. The population is evenly distributed in four regions – northeast accounting for 19.13%, mid-west 23.27%, south 35.29% and west 22.31%. So in America there are basically no differences between west and east, and various social developments are in most cases harmoniously integrated. In 1996, China’s illiteracy/semi- literacy rate at the ages of 15 and above was 17.82%, but in the United States that rate in 1990 was only 4%. In 1998, China’s birth rate was 16.03 per thousand with the total fertility rate of around 2. Similarly America’s birth rate was 15 per thousand with the same total fertility rate as China. In other words, China has become a country with low fertility rate, which is close to the rate of both the United States and other developed countries. Nevertheless, due to its large population base, China still has an annual net increase of around 12 million people (equivalent to the total population of Ecuador alone). This population growth will remain the same for years. By 2025, the population in China will reach 1.5 billion, while the United States will have 330 million people – still a fourth times difference. Yet, I am confident that, at the pace of present economic development China’s GNP will surely be doubled by then. In addition, since the overall national power will be remarkably strengthened and the living conditions greatly improved, China will basically catch up with moderately developed countries. But compared with the per capita income of the United States, China still has a long way to go. It is just like 15 people sharing a big cake compared with 3 people sharing the same one.

The point I would like to make through the comparison between China and the United States is that the issue of population is the primary concern of China in the realization of its sustainable economic growth. The large population base and its continuous growth can not be changed in a short period of time. Taking mutual independence and restriction between population and environment into account, we are, in the long run, facing pressures from both population increase and the shortage of resources. While the United States does not have such pressure. This is the biggest difference in basic national conditions between the two countries. Some researches show that China’s population is closing to the sustainable limit of resources. Water, land and energy are the biggest factors of resource restriction. Take land resources as an example. China’s per capita arable land in 1949 was 0.26 hectares but dropped to 0.11 hectares by 1997. The total fresh water volume in China is not so small, but when converted to per capita it is merely 2,292 cubic meters, being one fourth of both world per capita and that of America. The strains between population, land and water have become one of the offsets in our modernization drive. In achieving the sustainable economic growth, China is facing much more serious problems than developed countries. The average rate of natural population increase of developed countries is 2 per thousand, and some has been down to negative increase. On the other hand, most developed countries have gone through a period of sacrificing the environment of their own as well as of developing countries in order to gain large profits. China must take both environment and population into consideration, with the environment as the basic and the population as the crux, in achieving the sustainable economic growth. This is because in most cases, the large population number and the relatively low population quality (in terms of health and education) affect the environment. If we follow the suit of sacrificing resources and the environment for economic benefit and development, we will clearly pay higher costs than other countries using the same economic development model. The fact that the population issue will be side by side with social and economic development is determined by the basic conditions of China. In order to obtain smooth economic and social development as well as sustainable development, China must in the first place address the relationship between population and economic growth, population and social progress, population and environmental protection, population and ecological balance and the quantity and quality of human reproduction. The family planning policy in China will be a long-term national strategy, for it brings benefits not only to the national prosperity, but also happiness to later generations. Therefore, we sincerely hope that our family planning programme can have the understanding and support from the international community.

2. New progresses in China population and family planning program after International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD)

Since ICPD in 1994, the Chinese government has above all adopted the sustainable development as a crucial strategy as per ICPD-POA while taking its own actual situations into account. Through careful investigations and researches, the control of population, the economical usage of resources and the protection of environment has been emphasized. The Chinese government has also worked out principles, policies and measures that are beneficial to the coordinated development of population and economy, and has taken a series of follow-up actions.

In 1995 the government put forward that the changes in thinking and approaches in the implementation of family planning program should be made. That is, a change from focusing on family planning alone to a holistic approach that combines the endeavor for socioeconomic development with the improvement of gender equity; and a change from relying primarily on administrative measures to using a new mechanism that integrates incentive with administration, publicity and education, quality services as well as scientific management. To be more specific, the family planning program in urban areas should further meet the ever-increasing needs of people in reproductive health and family planning. The family planning program in rural areas must be integrated with economic development, poverty alleviation and the assistance to farmers in their endeavors to become better off and have happy families. Our general principles are to pay more attention to the needs and interests of people, to improve the mental and physical health of women and children, and to enhance people’s participation. Only in this way can family planning become a voluntary action by the people.

China’s implementation of ICPD-POA proves that, each country must carry out POA according to its own conditions. Since population is a global issue, it is very important to respect the national sovereignty and to strengthen international exchanges and cooperation in speeding up the solutions to the population problem. The followings are the new progresses that China has made in family planning programme since ICPD.

(1) To develop client-centered and quality services on reproductive health/family planning to men and women of reproductive age

While stabilizing the low fertility rate, we have shifted the focus to human development, and been more concerned about the needs and interests of people. We have at the same time integrated population and family planning programme with the protection of women’s legal rights, and with the improvement of women’s reproductive health. Pilot quality service project on family planning was launched by the State Family Planning Commission in 1995 in six rural counties of Jiangsu, Shandong, Zhejiang, Jilin, etc. as well as in five urban districts of Shanghai, Tianjin, Nanjing, etc. Pilot activities include IECs, informed choices on contraceptive methods, infertility treatment as well as counseling services to newly married couples, to pregnant, prenatal and post-natal women and to people in menopause. Home-visits have been paid before and after contraceptive operation and medical assistance have been offered to women so as to meet their needs in reproductive health and family planning. Management information system on services for childbearing women has been set up, and brochures and leaflets on reproductive health and quality care were handed out. Information on family planning and healthier birth and better child rearing is provided with the establishment of evaluation system, in which the client’s satisfaction has been taken as one of the indicators. In addition, professional and technical training for family planning workers have been intensified. The mechanism of performing duties within laws was set up. Family planning workers are required to work whole-heartedly for people at reproductive age and to protect their legal rights. Any forms of coercion, simple and rude working methods in the implementation of family planning program are opposed. There are more than 300 counties conducting quality services of family planning at the present time. 94% of counties and 70% of townships have had education, counseling and clinical services in family planning and reproductive health. On this occasion, I would like to express our special thanks to the Population Council for your great interest and assistance to our pilot activities of quality service. Starting from this year, in order to strengthen the administration of the project, we have made some personnel changes in the leading group, and improved the implementation and management of this project. I believe that the project will achieve its expected objectives through our mutual efforts.

(2) To carry out activities to enhance women’s participation in the social development

Many activities have been carried out aiming at the improvement of women’s status. "Spring Bud Project" is helping drop-off girls back to school. "Happiness Project" is assisting impoverished mothers in rural areas. These activities intend to help those vulnerable women, and to enhance their ability to participate in the market economy. In cities, such activities as "Women Perform Meritorious Deeds" and "Re-employment Project" help the laid-off female workers and bring women’s roles into full play.

(3) To actively promote male participation in family planning, and to provide adolescent sex education

Although the number of male sterilization in China makes up 25% among those who have received sterilization in the world, female contraception still prevails in China. The influence of traditional concept that regards men as superior to women is still very strong. Therefore, the State Family Planning Commission, Ministry of Health and All China Women’s Federation work jointly to publicize the ideas of men and women being equal, promoting husbands sharing responsibility in family planning. We advocate that men should take more responsibility in family planning and contraception. The State Family Planning Commission has been promoting informed choices in contraception, and widely disseminating the no-scalpel vasectomy and reversible vas occlusion.

Adolescent sex behaviors and premarital sex are on the increase in recent years. Consequently the Chinese government and related social organizations have provided adolescent sexual health education, mainly through media. The departments of family planning, health, education, science and technology, etc are cooperating closely for various kinds of exhibitions, seminars, and TV lectures on sex education. "Private Talks" program is broadcast over radio, and "Private Talks" hotlines are open to give counseling services on the protection of STDs and AIDS. In most middle schools courses on population and puberty development are offered to teach young people about their physical hygiene, sexual psychology and sex morals.

Apart from that, the Chinese government has done a lot of work in strengthening community services, in improving population quality, and in encouraging the non-governmental organizations to develop their programs in terms of democratic participation and supervision.

In early 1998, China formulated the objectives of population and family planning programme for the next 50 years. They include four aspects in controlling the population size, in improving population quality, in having couples enjoy reproductive health quality services as well as in the changes on family planning program mechanism.

3. Great challenge faced by China in the 21^st century

China has made great achievements in tackling its population problem which has drawn world attention. However, China is still facing many problems and difficulties on the way of economic and social development into the 21^st century. Among them population has long been a key obstacle to China’s development. The reasons are:

(1) The continuous increase of population will remain the same for years in China.

In spite of the effective implementation of the population control policy, in China, the average annual natural increase of population is still about 12 million, while the total population will continue to rise for tens of years. In some poor areas, population growth is still excessive where the vicious circle of "the poorer people are, the more births they have; the more births they have, the poorer they become" is still existing. The ever-increasing population has imposed great pressure on the further improvement of employment, education, housing, transportation, medical insurance, social welfare, and etc. Now each year, the newly increased population is using up one-fourth of newly increased national income on consumption. This in return reduces the capital accumulation, checking the speed of economic construction and affecting the upgrade of education, science and technology.

China is now at the transition of economic system and structure. A considerable amount of labor force may be laid off in the next few years. There will be 190 million rural surplus labors looking for new jobs. And governments at all levels are pressured with an annual average increase of around 10 million labors. These are severe challenges on employment. In addition, due to the unbalanced distribution of population, economic developments differ from the east to the west. Since the 1990s, a large number of population have flown to the developed regions of the southeast coastal area. Particularly, millions upon millions farmers are migrating into cities to do labor work or business. It has constrained the limited infrastructure and already saturated holding capacity of cities, which presents a new problem for the government to attend to, challenging its social development policy and administration capability.

(2) The population pressure on resources and the environment is beyond optimism.

China accounts for 21.5% of the world population, but only 7% of the whole arable land. The per capita arable land is still on the decline. At present China per capita arable land is only as much as one-third of the world total. Per capita water resources, forest resources and mineral resources are all lower than the world average. Furthermore, since China is at the stage of fast industrialization and urbanization, the exploitation of natural resources has been much intensified with soaring pollution discharges and ecological damages. The ever-increasing pressure on environmental protection is not optimistic. In China, where the natural resources are relatively scarce, we have succeeded, especially during the last twenty years of economic reform, in providing food, clothing and shelter to 1.2 billion people. Now we are heading for a better-off society, which is a miracle and a contribution to the humankind in the world. Chinese people are shouldering great pressure in the process of socioeconomic development.

(3) Improving the population quality has been a difficult task

The 21^st century will be an era with knowledge and initiatives as important production factors. However, China’s economic and social development will be dramatically slowed down by the great numbers of rural population and poverty-stricken population, as well as by the large illiterate/semi-illiterate population. The low population quality is also hindering the development. On the other hand, the adjustment of economic structure and the advancement of knowledge economy require fewer unskilled labors, but more labors with skills and high quality. Beside the control of population size, the Chinese government must attach more importance to the improvement of population quality, the reduction of neonatal defection incidence rate, as well as the solutions to the unbalanced sex ratio at birth in some places.

(4) The process of population aging is accelerating, and how to foster aging population remains a problem

The decline of fertility rate leads to the acceleration of population-aging process. The number of old population over 60 years was 100 million in 1995, but will rise to 130 million by 2000, making up 10%. It will further rise to 280 million by the year 2050, making up 18.4%, and even up to 400 million by 2050, about one-fourth of the total population. The ratio of population at 65 years old and above had increased from 5.58% of 1990 to 6.69% of 1995, reaching to 82.8 million. Different from that of developed countries, population aging in China occurs under the circumstances that productive forces are not advanced. In developed countries, population aging comes after economic prosperity, but in China it is vise versa. Consequently, problems of how to foster aging population are sticking out. Especially in rural areas, the shrinking of family size results in the fact that more and more old people have to depend on social supports, rather than on family members. This definitely will increase the weight on national expenditures and directly affect the distribution of national incomes.

(5) Family planning service has not met the needs of clients

With the economic development and the upgrading of education and culture, people have become more concerned about improving the quality of their daily lives, production and reproduction. Many people are not satisfied with simple contraceptive services. Instead, they want to get counseling services on fewer births and better child-rearing, reproductive health and other services of daily lives and child bearing. In this sense, we must develop various IEC activities and interesting appealing materials, provide quality clinical services, broaden the ranges, and raise the professional level of the staff. It is important that quality of care should be stressed, because through quality service and scientific management can the improvement of overall family planning program be achieved.

4. Respect for and assurance of human rights

The above-mentioned comparisons of population situation and per capita GNP prove the dramatic differences between China and the United States in terms of their respective living standards. Then what is the relationship between China’s family planning policy and the improvement of living standards, the protection of human rights and the stabilization of world population? Let’s assume that, since China accounts for 21.5% of the world population, its population size and growing speed are and will have dramatic impact on the world population development trend. China’s successful implementation of ICPD-POA will benefit both China and the world. During the past 20 years over 300 million births have been averted in China because of family planning program, resulting in the remarkable decline of the fertility rate in a short period of time. This achievement helps ease the population pressure on social and economic development, and plays an important role in our economic growth, social development and improvement of people’s lives. As a developing country with one-fifth of the world population, China has a decisive influence on the global stabilization and development. In other words, our family planning program will not only benefit China itself, but also contribute to the global stabilization and development. Just as late Deng Xiaoping put it, when China catches up with moderately developed countries by the middle of the next century, it means that one-fifth of the world population will be free from poverty. This will be a real contribution to the mankind as a whole.

However, I don’t deny that there is a gap between the present family planning policy and the willingness of many farmers on childbearing. Many farmers are living in areas with low productive forces, or even in very poor regions. The harsh living conditions and difficult life make them want more children, especially, to have a boy, so that they can have one more labor at home to help get rid of poverty. However, their good wishes actually lead to just the opposite, instead of getting rid of poverty, they become even poorer. The Chinese government has taken into account the unbalanced social and economical development and the difficulties in rural areas. Considering different situations and ethnic traditions, when formulating family planning policies, the government adopts the policy of classified guidance rather than using single policy prevailing over the country. It is just like playing tennis or football, the four lines have to be drawn and certain rules and regulations be followed. It is fair and reasonable. One thing I would like to clarify here is that it is not true that "One Child Policy" is the only family planning policy in China. In fact, the Chinese government encourages and advocates each couple to have one child. But it doesn’t mean that each couple is only allowed to have one child. Our family planning policies are different from urban areas, rural areas to ethnic minority groups. China has received a great deal of compliment from international societies for its achievements in promoting family planning and reducing fertility rate. Nevertheless, there are still some western countries which can not understand it, assuming that China’s family planning program violates the right of its citizens in reproduction. Here, I would like to express some of my personal opinions as follows.

It is obviously clear to all that promoting family planning in China is to assure the subsistence and development of Chinese people. While promoting family planning, China pays importance to the rights of couples and individuals and the improvement of women’s status and the overall progress of human beings. Decided by the national conditions and through reasonable control of population growth, the family planning policy aims at promoting the coordinated development between population and economy, society, resources, the environment, as well as the sustainable development. The policy also helps upgrade the living standards of people and assure their rights to have better lives. I believe as well that human rights must be a relative, rather than absolute concept. There are no rights without responsibilities and vice versa. We are living in different countries, performing our own rights and enjoying the freedom. But in the meanwhile, we must abide by the laws of our country and take responsibilities. China’s family planning policy is in conformity with the principle of combining governmental guidance with people’s willingness - a convergence of rights and responsibilities. The policy reflects the requirements of national development strategy on population stabilization and the benefits to the families that practise family planning. In the promotion of family planning program, we are against any forms of coercion and the duties should be performed within laws. While setting some necessary and reasonable restrictions on the number of children that farmers may have, it accords with the benefits and demands of most citizens as well as the law of natural development. In the implementation, we not only pay attention to lowering the fertility rate, but also apply a series of social and economic policies to alleviate people’s concerns. That is, we incorporate family planning program with the economic growth, with the environmental protection, with the raising of women’s status and with the improvement of social security system in order to address the issue of population in a holistic and integrated way.

Countries have different social system, history, cultural traditions and are at different economic development level, so the concepts on human rights and the ways to achieve it are of course different. Yet there are common points in human rights that are universally recognized. In addition, there are common international standards to abide by. It is acknowledged that no country has perfect human rights, and that each country should be responsible for the improvement of human rights in its own country. When speaking of human rights, we must explicit a prerequisite, namely the unity of human rights and the sovereign rights. Only when the sovereignty is protected can human rights of each country, each nation and each individual be fully respected. Peace and development, respect for sovereignty and respect of human rights are the current demands of people of all over the world. They are also the goals our Chinese people have been striving for. For the purpose of promoting human rights globally, all countries should try to understand each other on the basis of equality and mutual respect and through dialogue. And in order to reduce differences and expand understanding, we must seek common ground while reserving differences.

China is at the moment working to build a prosperous, democratic, civilized and modernized socialist country. This is a grand task, because it will help one-fifth world population be completely free from poverty, and thus help achieve human rights. As a component of the task, the family planning program accords with long-term interests of both Chinese people and the people all over the world, and assures the respect and protection of human rights.

With the opening-up and reform policy, China is willing to take in all good cultural achievements and advanced experiences of human beings, and in the need of maxim understanding and support from other countries. I hope that through our meeting today, our American friends here can have even better understanding of the national conditions and family planning program of China. I sincerely welcome all well-meaning criticism and suggestions, so that we can overcome the problems in our future work. We are much determined to work together with all peace-loving people for the realization of China's modernization and stable development of the world.

Thank you very much!