China Says Population to Peak By 2050

China is adding 8 million to 10 million people a year to its population of 1.3 billion but says that will peak by the half-century mark.

Zhao Baige, vice minister of the State Commission of Population and Family Planning, says the rate of growth has begun to slow thanks to the family planning policy implemented in the 1970s, Xinhua news agency reports. The report said at the current rate, China is adding the equivalent of Australia’s population every two years.

But Zhao said 800,000 to 1.2 million babies are born every year with birth defects. The population of handicapped people has topped 60 million, which is equal to the population of France.

The report said China’s elderly population has outpaced social services. It said currently 7 percent of the country’s total population is 65 years of age or older.