The Second National Symposium on Population, Resources, the Environment and Development opened in Beijing Wednesday with more than 140 experts and scholars attending.

The participants agreed that population boom, resource shortages and environmental deterioration have become the common problems of people the world over and will threaten the survival of mankind in the next century.

China is the most populous country in the world, with its population growing to nearly 1.3 billion. The large population and the limited resources and vulnerable environment will pose major challenges for the country in the 21st century.

Careful studies on the coordinated growth of population, resources, the environment and economy will help China issue and implement proper development strategies for the next century.

The meeting, which is sponsored by the Population Research Institute of the People's University of China with the theme of promoting such coordinated growth in the 21st century, has received more than 70 papers from across the country.