The population control policy should be enhanced so as to promote the current “developing the west” drive, said Wang Zhongyu, state councilor and secretary-general of the State Council.
Wang made the remark at a recent meeting about population and family planning.
“To effectively control the increase in population and improve the people’s cultural level have become an urgent issue for promoting the social and economic development of the western region,” Wang said. “The population issue is one of the key problems that need to be settled in carrying out the west-development strategy.”
He said, due to slow economic growth, the lack of financial resources and other reasons, the population in China’s west has remained a strong increasing trend.
He urged related departments and officials to greatly improve their family planning work, especially at the grass-roots level, in the coming three to five years.
He pointed out that two things are the most important in improving the family planning work: one is publicity, the other is better service.
He also stressed the role played by officials at all levels, asking them to place more importance on the issue of population control and family planning.
(People’s Daily)
