Maintaining a low birth rate will be very important for the country in the coming decade, and therefore it must promote a scientific concept of birth among its citizens, the country’s family planning chief said last Friday.

Although China’s birth rate has dropped remarkably, the low birth rate is not stable when compared with developed countries, Xinhua news agency quoted Zhang Weiqing, head of the State Family Planning Commission, as saying.

China should popularize knowledge on population and family planning through various channels and media to help people to prepare in advance for a small family after marriage, said Zhang.

Zhang made the remarks at a ceremony marking the anniversary of a momentous decision by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council to maintain a low level of birth.

Thousands of Beijing residents participated in the ceremony, when a scroll containing signatures of more than 10,000 university students, pledging small families, was dedicated to the State Family Planning Commission.

Zhang said that China’s population will peak at 1.6 billion and start to drop.

(eastday.com 03/05/2001)