China plans to control the number of its population below 1.39 billion by the end of 2015, says a document available to the media Saturday before the opening of theannual session of the National People's Congress (NPC).
China has 1.341 billion of population at the end of 2010, according to preliminary statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics. The country is scheduled to release the final count in April, which is based on the sixth national population census.
The document, the draft of the country's 12th Five-year Plan (2011-2015), will be delivered to NPC, the country's top legislature, which convenes its annual session Saturday. Lawmakers will review it during the ten-day session.