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China Holds Forum on Population, Development of Northwest Region

Posted on: Monday, 8 August 2005, 09:00 CDT

China holds forum on population, development of northwest region

by Fan Xi, Ma Yong and Gu Ling

XINING, Qinghai Province, Aug. 7 (Xinhua) -- More than 180 officials and experts on population-related issues attended an ongoing forum here since Saturday to discuss population and social development in China's northwest region, the biggest one of all six geographical regions around the country.

The three-day Northwest China Forum on Population and Development, the first of its kind ever held in the northwest region, will confer on such topics as regional population growth trends, population and socio-economic development, population and environment and corresponding measures.

China is divided into six geographical regions, including north China, northeast China, east China, central China, southwest China and northeast China. The northwestern region is the largest in territory of 3.09 million square meters and the smallest in population of 90 million.

But with population growing at the country's fastest rate since the family planning policy was initiated in the early 1970s, and low GDP growth for relying heavily on agriculture and animal husbandry, the region has been troubled by how to attain a balanced and sustainable development between population development, environmental protection and socio-economic development.

Studying population situations and issues in the region to formulate a scientific population development strategy is very important for facilitating the development process of west China and narrow the gap with the developed east region, said Su Ning, director of the Qinghai Provincial Population and Family Planning Commission.

According to Su, the forum will also talk about grain output and population, ecological crisis in Qinghai "Sanjiangyuan", or the source of China's three major rivers where the Yangtze, Yellow River and Lancang River originate, the impact of population migration on socio-economic development and how to employ fiscal policies to address population issues.

Source: Xinhua News Agency - CEIS

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