Speech at the 5th Asian and Pacific Population Conference by Zhang Weiqing

Speech at the 5th Asian and Pacific Population Conference
Zhang Weiqing
Minister
State Family Planning Commission of China
Dec.16, 2002 Bangkok, Thailand

Distinguished Chair,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

First of all please allow me to express my warmest congratulations on the opening of the 5th Asian and Pacific Population Conference. And also would like to take this opportunity to extend my highest salute to the host-ESCAP and Royal Government of Thailand.

Ten years ago, the 4th Asian and Pacific Population Conference was held in Bali, Indonesia. The Conference and the Bali Declaration had paved the way to the historic success of the ICPD in Cairo in1994. It is our sincere hope that the 5th Asian and Pacific Population Conference would make the same positive contributions to the peace and progress of human society in the new century.

The ICPD held in Cairo in1994 was a landmark triumph in the history of international cause of population and family planning. At the ICPD the delegates from ail over the world and numerous NGOs had reviewed the global population and family planning situation, and participated in heated debates on the issues and challenges in the area. The final document, the program of Action, was based on the consensus generated from the discussions from 179 countries with different politicai systems and religions.
The Program of Action became the guiding principles for population and family planning programs for the entire world the success of the ICPD and its output were the results of the collective efforts of alithe countries. It was also an extraordinary contribution of the United Nation to the international endeavors in population and family planning.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Since 1994, the Chinese government has vigorously responded to the call of the ICPD and has been fulfilled its commitments to the ICPD with responsibility. We have earnestly implemented the ICPD Program of Action in the Chinese context, and the achievement in this regard has been quite encouraging. Reproductive health and family planning have been integrated with the efforts in poverty alleviation universal education, women's empowerment, improving social security, public health system, and care for youth, ECT. The Chinese government has meanwhile allocated increasing resources in population and family planning programs, particularly in the remote and poverty stricken areas of the country. Family planning and reproductive health services including contraceptives are provided to the people free of charge. China is one of the developing countries, which invest substantively in reproductive health care up to now the service network has extended to all cities and villages throughout the country, and service facilities have been improved, and service capacity upgraded.

The Chinese government has reoriented its family planning and reproductive health program to follow the human entered and quality service approaches that were endorsed by the ICPD Program of Action. As a concrete step, it launched a pilot experiment in quality of care of family planning in1995. In the pilot areas with the aim to meet the diversified needs and demands of people in family planning and reproductive health, the current system in program management and performance evaluation has been under transformation, informed choice of contraceptives community-based personalized counseling and follow-up services were developed, maternal care was enhanced to ensure healthy child-birth, diagnosis and treatment of RTIs were provided, and information on HIV/AIDS prevention was disseminated. All these measures are integrated with the efforts to assist the people to obtain good and comprehensive reproductive health. The experiment in quality of care has been warmly welcomed by the people and family planning staff and expanded to above 40% areas all around the country. This includes some of the poorest areas in the western region of the country. China's population and family planning program has been moving forward along the direction of the ICPD in a sound, steady and sustainable manner. The enabling environment crated within China's family planning and reproductive health programs has been conducive to China's rapid economic and social development, and the uplifting of the quality of life of Chinese citizens. It has also contributed to the stabilizing of the world population.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
Turning into the new century, the international climate has been changing dramatically. While fertility levels have been declining more or less in the various parts of the world, the world population continues to grow. In many developing countries, because of unavailability of inaccessibility of family planning and reproductive health services, millions of poor women are suffering from unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion, which often resulted in avoidable maternal disease and deaths. Many children failed to receive good care and left the world before school. HIV/AIDS and STIs increasingly become a terrifying threat to the human kind. As the ICPD+10 approaches, we should have seen, while the achievements since the ICPD have been tremendously obtained in terms of population and development in both developing and developed countries, there is still a long way to go to have the ICPD Program of Action fully implemented. These are challenges to the countries all over the world.

During the World Millennium Summit hosted by UN in September 2000, poverty alleviation was taken as the first priority among all millennium development goals agreed upon at the Summit. The subject of "Population and poverty in Asia-Pacific Region" set for this conference reflects again the deep concern of international community over poverty reduction. Chinese government always attaches great importance to poverty alleviation, and thank to continuous efforts, the population under poverty line in rural China has been decreased from 250 million in 1978 to 80 million in 1994, and further to 30 million in 2000.The case of China has revealed that population and poverty are very closely related. Poor areas tend to be associated with higher population growth, lower women's status and poorer reproductive health. Poor families tend to have more children with lower education. The experiences in China has also demonstrated that it would be helpful to poverty reduction by adhering to family planning approaches, quality services, women's empowerment, women and children's health care promotion, avoiding unwanted pregnancy and abortion, strengthening education on prevention of HIV/AIDS and improving reproductive health. At the same time, it also shows that family planning and reproductive health provision should be carried out along with the efforts in poverty alleviation, gender equality promotion, increasing women's educational opportunities, income generation for poor people and relieving them from poverty. Chinese experience indicates that concerted development on population economy, resources and environment is a crucial measure for Chinese people to get rid of poverty, and stride towards a well-off society. Providing full-scale quality family planning and reproductive health services are the most effective approach to secure the health of women and children. Protection of legitimate right and interests and encouragement for women to exercise the reproductive rights with voluntariness and responsibility are the preconditions to actualize the primary human rights to survival and development. Chinese government believes further implementation of the Program of Action of the ICPD will improve reproductive health level, make contribution to poverty alleviation and accelerate all countries achieving the Millennium Development Goals.
Lack of resources is always an acute issue impeding the implementation of the ICPD Program of Action among the developing countries. The global resource target set at the ICPD is far from being met. Global sustainable development requires the collective efforts of countries all over the world. We would like to, at this Conference, strongly urge international community, the governments of the developed countries in particular, basing on the principle of "Sharing responsibilities with differences", to fully understand the difficulties of developing countries on resources and technologies to honor their pledges made at the ICPD while improved the program efficacy, to increase the investment on population, family planning and reproductive health programs and to strengthen technological transfer, information exchanges, personnel training and financial assistance, so to promote the global sustainable development. Pursuing the same goal, and countries in Asia and Pacific should establish a new type partnership based on mutual respect and benefit principle to promote population and development movement in Asia and Pacific region and also in the world.

Ladies and Gentlemen:
China is a developing country with the largest population in the world. By the end of 2001, the population of the Mainland China has reached to 1.27 billion. China is characterized as a country with huge population, lack in arable lands, relatively short in per capita resource and underdeveloped in economy, in particular the considerable unbalance in social economic development between regions within the country. Chinese government consistently attaches great importance to harmonious development between society, economy and population resource and environment and firmly commits itself to family planning programs. Thanks to the enormous efforts of Chinese people, the number of children born to each couple on average has reduce from what used to be around 5 or 6 to 1.8. Then net population increment nevertheless will be expected to remain at 10 million annually in the next ten years or so. The peaks in labor-age population, aging population, and total population will arrive one after another. Population issues are still at the most impeding the sustainable development, and the key factor affecting socio-economic development.

In order to further developing population and family planning program and promoting sustainable development and poverty alleviation, with many Years' efforts, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress of China adopted 'Population and Family Planning Law of the People's Republic of China', which came in effect from September 1 2002. The Law has documented the successful experiences of China in family planning over the years, drawn lessons from the relevant international experiences, and raised those fundamental policy, regulations and measures in family planning, which are consistent with the principles of democracy and legality to the level of legislation. The adoption and enforcement of the Law will certainly exert significant and profound impact on stabilizing of low fertility, upgrading of family planning performance, safeguarding the legal interests and rights of the people1 as well as the coordinated development between population and society, economy, resource, environment and sustainable development in China.

In the new century, China will endeavor to build a well-off society in an all-round way in the first 20 years. Efforts will be made to quadruple the GDP. The country will become more industrialized and urbanized. A fairly sound social security system will be set up with a higher rate of employment. The political, economic and cultural rights and interests of the people will be respected and guaranteed. A sound modern national educational systems scientific, technological and cultural innovation systems as well as nationwide fitness and medical and health systems will take shape. The capability of sustainable development will be steadily enhanced. The ecological environment will be improved. The efficiency of using resources will be increased significantly. We will enhance harmony between human being and nature to push the whole society onto a path to civilized development featuring the growth of production, an affluent life and a sound ecosystem.

China is obligated and determined to work along with all governments and various international organizations and institutions for the further and full implementation of the ICPD Program of Action, for the stabilization of world population and for global sustainable development. We are confident that china will have a brighter future, so will Asia and the World!

Wish the Conference a full success.
Thanks Chair.