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Population Control Helps Development
Effective control of population growth is essential for the develop-the-west campaign in China.
The western region of China is usually deemed a vast territory with a sparse population. As a result, it is taken for granted that the population and labour force should be increased for western development.
Western China consists of 11 provinces and autonomous regions and covers 5.4 million square kilometres, accounting for 57 per cent of the country's land area. Extended as it seems, the region is not fertile. It is covered mostly with mountains, plateaus, deserts and marshlands. The cultivated area is paltry, let alone fertile. At the same time, the unequal distribution of water resources makes some parts of the region impossible to cultivate.
Compared with China's coastal areas and some flatlands, the average population density of the west is much lower. This does not necessarily mean that the west can afford to lose its hold on population growth.
Instead, controlling the population growth is a prerequisite to the success of the revive-the-west campaign.
The population control will help the local governments make the most of the west's advantage in natural resources per capita.
Comparatively speaking, the west is rich in natural resources.
Curbing the population growth helps protect the environment in western China.
The environment in the west is fragile with vegetation seriously destroyed, accumulated snow retreating and disappearing, oasis and farmland shrinking and sandstorms running rampant.
A rapid population growth is one of the culprits for this environmental deterioration. The population of the western region has increased by 140 per cent over the past 50 years. In order to support the increasing population, forests and pastures have been turned into farmland, which has caused severe damage to the environment.
Sustainable development of the economy also requires control of the population.
There is a wide gap between developed eastern and underdeveloped western China. The disparity results from their different development modes.
A lower birth rate facilitates the economic development in the east, where people enjoy a higher living standard.
The west, however, has a dimmer picture. Poverty accompanies a higher population growth, which makes a better quality of life impossible, according to the article.
Human capital should be enhanced for western development and the crux of the matter lies in improving people's cultural and educational quality.
The neonatal defect rate and endemic morbidity are higher in the western region of China. However the west can have a healthier population by controlling its population growth and improving family planning services.
While China is on the threshold of grey tide at the moment, the population in many parts of the western region is still young. In other words, quick population growth is around the corner if the local governments are lax in population control, the article said. (Chinadaily)
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