National political advisors discuss population issues

Chinese national political advisors convened a biweekly seminar on Friday to discuss issues about population, family planning policies and aging. Population remains a comprehensive, long-term and strategic issue for China, said Wang Yang, chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, who presided over the meeting and made a speech.

Efforts are needed to balance the size and structure of the population, and accommodate the development of science and technology, so as to realise a sustainable population in the long run, said Mr Wang, who is also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

A total of 15 political advisors and representatives from academia put forward their suggestions, according to a press release published yesterday.

They agreed that the country’s family planning policies have effectively contained the population growth that was too fast and relieved pressure on the environment and supply of resources.

While the population is growing steadily and its structure is optimising, new problems have occurred when significant changes happened to the general situation of population and people’s perception about birth, they noted. They suggested that more resources be allocated to researches on the long-term change of population, and to public services related to birth such as nurseries.

They also called for better vocational education to foster a knowledge-based skillful and innovative work force, and more comprehensive healthcare services to take care of senior citizens.