Family Planning

China's family planning policy combines  government guidance with the wishes of the masses. The basic requirements of family planning are late marriages and late childbearing, so as to have fewer but healthier babies, especially one child per couple. But a flexible family planning policy is adopted for rural people and ethnic minorities; in rural areas, couples may have a second baby in exceptional cases, but must wait several years after the birth of the first child. In areas inhabited by minority peoples, each ethnic group may work out different regulations in accordance with its wish, population, natural resources, economy, culture and customs: In general a couple may have a second baby, or a third child in some places. As for ethnic minorities with extremely small populations, a couple may have as many children as they want.

Profound changes have taken place in the people's viewpoints on marriage, childbearing and the family. Late marriage, late childbearing and fewer but healthier babies are the accepted norms of most people in China. Now the people have a common understanding that there is no difference between a son or a daughter. It has become a custom to set up a small happy, harmonious family, and pursue a scientific and civilized life style. Meanwhile, family planning has helped Chinese women get rid of the burden of frequent childbearing and the heavy family burden after marriage, thus raising women's status and improving the health of both mothers and children.

<<<Fifty-six Ethnic Groups>>>

Fifty-six Ethnic Groups

China is a united multi-ethnic nation of 56 ethnic groups. According to the fourth national census, taken in 1990, the Han people made up 91.96 percent of the country's total population, and the other 55 ethnic groups, 8.04 percent. As the majority of the population is of the Han ethnic group, China's other ethnic groups are customarily referred to as the national minorities.

The Han people can be found throughout the country, though mainly on the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River, the Yangtze River and the Pearl River valleys, and the Northeast Plain. The national minorities, though fewer in number, are also scattered over a vast area (see the attached table, and can be found in approximately 64.3 percent of China, mainly distributed in the border regions from  northeast China to north, northwest and southwest China. Yunnan Province, home to more than 20 ethnic groups, has the greatest diversity of minority peoples in China. In most of China's cities and county towns, two or more ethnic groups live together. Taking shape over China's long history, this circumstance of different ethnic groups "living together in one area while still living in individual compact communities in special areas" continues to provide the practical basis for political, economic and cultural intercourse between the Han and the various minority peoples, and for the functioning of the autonomous national minority areas system.

<<<Population>>>

Population

China is the most populous country in the world, with 1.25909 billion people at the end of 1999, about 22 percent of the world's total. This figure does not include many Chinese in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, Taiwan Province and Macao Special Administrative Region.

The population density in China is 130 people per sq km. This population, however, is unevenly distributed. Along the densely populated east coast there are more than 400 people per sq km; in the central areas, over 200; and in the sparsely populated plateaus in the west there are less than 10 people per sq km.

When New China was founded in 1949, China had a population of 541.67 million. Owing to China's stable society, rapid production development, improvement of medical and health conditions, insufficient awareness of the importance of population growth control and shortage of experience, the population grew rapidly, reaching 806.71 million in 1969. In the early 1970s, the Chinese government realized that the over-rapid population growth was harmful to economic and social development, and would cause great difficulties in the fields of employment, housing, communications and medical care; and that if China could not effectively check the over-rapid population growth, and alleviate the tremendous pressure that the population growth was exerting on land, forests and water resources, the worsening of the ecology and the environment in the coming decades would be disastrous, thus endangering the necessary conditions for the survival of humanity, and sustainable social and economic development. Then the Chinese government began implementing a family planning, population control and population quality improvement policy in accordance with China's basic conditions of being a large country with a poor economic foundation, a large population and little cultivated land, so as to promote the coordinated development of the economy, society, resources and environment. Since then birth rates have steadily declined year by year. China's birth rate dropped from 34.11 per thousand in 1969 to 15.23 per thousand at the end of 1999; and the natural growth rate decreased from 26.08 per thousand to 8.77 per thousand, thus basically realizing a change in the population reproduction type to one characterized by low-birth, low-death and low-increase rates.

<<<The Family>>>

The Family

China has 332.97 million families, with 3.2 people per urban household, and 4.3 people per rural household on average. In general, a Chinese family is composed of a couple and their children, but big families with three or more generations can also be found in China. Along with the pursuit of personal freedom, the trend of forming small families with only directly related members is now prevalent.

In the past, each Chinese family had a "head," who had absolute authority at home, and had the final say in family affairs. But now in most Chinese families, the husband and wife, or a couple with other family members, work out together the household plans, and decide family affairs through consultation. Moreover, family members share the housework, making the division of labor at home more reasonable; and the husband and wife support each other's work.

The Chinese people have the tradition of respecting the old and loving the young. Though many young couples do not live with their parents, they maintain close contact with them. Grown-up children have the duty to support and help their parents. The Chinese people attach great importance to relations between family members and relatives, and cherish their parents, children, brothers and sisters, uncles, aunts and other relatives.