China has rolled out a new program for the development of four functional population zones. Its purpose is rational demographic distribution and migration, the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) said.

"This is the first time China has drawn up a system of crucial measures to comprehensively address the nation's population issue," Li Bin, minister of the NPFPC, said on Saturday at the annual meeting of the China Population Association.

Classifications are based on the resources, environment and social and economic conditions in different areas, Li said.

Correspondingly different family planning, employment, education, medical care, social security and housing security policies will apply to residents of the areas.

The four functional zones comprise the "restriction zone", "dispersion zone", "stable zone" and "accumulation zone".

The restriction zone's harsh natural environment is least suitable for human habitation. It encompasses nature reserves, national forest parks, national geoparks and key scenic spots.

The dispersion zone accommodates 54 percent of the country's population.

The stable zone is agreeable to live in, but has a limited potential capacity for population growth. It includes places such as Lanzhou, Guizhou and Taiyuan.

The accumulation zone covers places that have an agreeable natural environment, a relatively high socio-economic development level and the potential to absorb more residents, such as the city groups Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei, Qiqihar-Shenyang-Dalian, Chengdu-Chongqing and the Pearl River delta.

"The system will promote rational distribution and migration of population, and give the market a key role in allocating human resources," Li said.

China will encounter a sharp conflict between population and land resources in the coming 30 years, according to a survey by the commission earlier this year.

Seventy percent of China's population will live in cities by 2034, and the urban population will rise from its present 560 million to 1 billion, the survey said.

The coming 30 years are critical to the country's adjusting its relationship between people and nature. Urbanization will accelerate and more than 300 million rural residents will migrate to urban areas, the survey said.

Orderly population movement is very important because it "enhances equality of individual development" Chen Li, director of the commission's planning department, said.

China will experience a fourth baby boom between 2005 and 2020, Li Jianmin, professor of Nankai University's Population and Development Institute, said.

"We must take comprehensive measures to address the pressure of growing population on the nation's resources and environment," he said.

(China Daily August 28, 2008)