The family planning policy has helped China prevent 400 million births in the past three decades, Zhang Weiqing, minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, said Tuesday.

In an interview at China's central government website, Zhang said it took about 30 years for China to achieve the population control target which was realized by developed countries in more than 100 years.

"The goal of ensuring Chinese people a relatively comfortable life would not be achieved if we had 400 million more people," Zhang said.

He said developing countries should choose a path different from that of developed countries. If China naturally reduced the birth rate to the same low level as that in developed countries, it would take a longer time, Zhang said.

He said that China is facing a new birth peak, so the population control policy should not be changed at this time. Otherwise, China will face another big increase in population and more pressure on its resources and environment.

(Xinhua News Agency March 22, 2006)