China's agenda 21: White Paper on China's Population, Environment and Development in the 21st Century

China Popul Today. 1994 Aug;11(4):5-8.

Abstract

PIP: China's program strategies for bringing about fertility decline and social and economic development were excerpted from sections 9-25 of the White Paper on Population, Consumption, and Social Services. Each of the 17 sections was organized into topics related to bases for action, goals, and actions. The goals are to maintain the average annual rate of natural increase within 12.5/1000 by the year 2000, to reduce fertility from 2.3 in 1990 to below 2.0 by the year 2000 and to stabilize population at about 1.5 or 1.6 billion by 2050. The goal is also to institute a 9-year compulsory education requirement and eliminate illiteracy among the young and middle aged population. Education and training for women should be improved. Population education and resource development will involve improving the education of and opportunities for women. Knowledge about the importance of fewer but healthier births must be imparted simultaneously with learning production skills. Women will be encouraged to participate in social and economic activities, as voluntary family planning practitioners. Husbands will be encouraged to engage in domestic chores and to share responsibility for practicing family planning. Rural education will be emphasized. Consanguineous marriages will be discouraged. Awareness of environmental protection and improved use of resources will be promoted within ethical and moral educational approaches. Policies will be formulated for environmental protection pertaining to energy, waste, and a balanced ecosystem with consideration of their impacts on women and vulnerable groups. Evaluation of environmental and development impacts on population characteristics will be established. The impact of aging on the labor force, energy requirements, income, and the dependency burden will be incorporated into economic development programs. Migration policy will be established. Pilot projects will be carried out with nationwide monitoring of the effectiveness of the population policy.

MeSH terms

  • Asia
  • Asia, Eastern
  • China
  • Developing Countries
  • Goals*
  • Health Planning*
  • Public Policy*