When the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949, the
population numbered 541.67 million. Owing to China's stable
society, rapid development of production, improvement in 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. Since the
1970s, China has implemented a policy of family planning to control
population growth which brought about the start of a decline in the
birth rate. By 2005, the annual rate of population growth had
decreased to 12.40 per thousand. Now China's population
reproduction picture has basically been turned around into one
characterized by low rates of birth, death and increase.?
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In line with the requirements of the Outline of National
Economic and Social Development during the Eleventh Five-Year
Program period, adopted at the Fourth Session of the Tenth NPC in
March 2006, in the Eleventh Five-Year Program period (2006-2010)
the goal is for the average annual natural increase in China's
population not to exceed eight per thousand, and for the population
by 2010 to be less than 1.36 billion.