Warnings follow birth of 1.1 billionth Chinese

BEIJING China marked the birth of its 1.1 billionth citizenFriday with warnings that its attempts to put a lid on populationgrowth are having little success.

The official China Daily said that despite greater publicawareness of family planning and numerous state regulations, "China'spopulation was undoubtedly out of control."

Chinese leaders, in meetings publicizing the new figure, saidChina will have difficulty feeding and housing itself if growth inpopulation is not checked, leading dailies reported.

China reached the 1.1 billion figure a little more than sevenyears after becoming the world's first nation with 1 billion people.

The government wants to limit the population to 1.2 billion inthe year 2000, but officials and experts now acknowledge the targetis not realizable. Estimates for the number of Chinese at the turnof the century have jumped to 1.3 billion, about 20 percent of thetotal world population.

China Daily quoted Vice Premier Tian Jiyun as saying 20 millionmore Chinese would be born every year over the next decade if recentbirth rates remain unchanged.

In 1988 China recorded 23 million births and 7 million deaths asa baby-boom generation entered its child-bearing period and defianceof state birth-control policies spread.