China is undergoing a demographic
transition with a rapidity never before
experienced in the history of mankind.
Crude birth rates plummeted from
an estimated of about 50 births per
thousand population in 1963 to only
21 in 1983. Death rates also declined
markedly. As a result, the population
growth rate during the 1980-85 period
1.17 percent per year - approximated
that of the industrialized world.
These dramatic declines have been
attributed largely to China's vigorous
family planning program, the promotion
of one child families, and a system
of related rewards and penalties.
The goal is to halt population growth
by the year 200 0 at 1.2 billion, and
gradually to reduce the population
size in the years thereafter.