Population growth rates decline in five provinces

Natural population growth rates in Shandong, Zhejiang, Shaanxi, Jiangxi, and Henan provinces last year were much lower than the 1980 national average of less than 11/1000, according to provincial authorities. The population growth rate in Shandong province, which has 73 million people, dropped to 7.03/1000 last year, 3.76/1000 less than in 1979. Some 100,000 fewer babies were born in Zhejiang province last year, compared with the figure for 1979. That birth rate was the lowest achieved in the past 30 years. In Shaanxi province, the population growth rate in 1980 was 7.19/1000. More than 458,000 couples in the province who have 1 child have decided to bear no more children, the authorities said. The population growth rate in Jiangxi and Henan provinces fell from 13.74/1000 in 1979 to 9.11/1000 in 1980 and from 12.88/1000 in 1979 to 9.53/1000 last year. The decline of the population growth rate is attributed to late marriage, late childbearing, family planning education, and encouragement of 1-child families.