China's population is unlikely to top 1.6 billion in the late 2020's when it is projected to peak, according to an expert quoted in a Beijing newspaper.

The Beijing Daily on Tuesday quoted Zhang Yi, a research fellow with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, as saying a joint effort from the government and the public since late last century has successfully controlled the growth rate and the size of the population.

The researcher also emphasizes that China will not impose any further pressure on the world's supplies of energy and staple foods.

Zhang Yi cites different trends in the growth pattern of the Chinese population.

He says that China will probably reach a total population of 1.45 billion in the future. As China becomes an aging society, a rising mortality rate will appear. Further, an increasing number of migrant workers living in urban areas would better control the size of their families under the government's family planning policy.

In the past decade, China has already seen population growth characterized by a low birth rate, and this pattern will continue in the coming decades. The control China has exercised over its population growth has postponed the projected date at which the world population will reach 6 billion people by four years.

He noted that Chinese women also would choose to have children at a later age in the future, as they seek to spend more years on education and career development. Delayed maternity also would help ease population pressure in the country.

(CRI September 13, 2005)