China’s Population to Surpass 1.4 Billion by 2020

The population of China is expected to surpass 1.4 billion by 2020, according to a proposed five-year plan on socio-economic development which was presented at the opening of the annual session of the National People’s Congress (NPC) on Saturday.

BEIJING (Sputnik) – In 2015, China’s population reached 1.37 billion, according to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.

"The country’s population will amount to about 1.42 billion people by the end of 2020," the draft government plan says, also stating that the Chinese authorities will continue to adhere to the two-child policy.

In the last five years, China’s population grew by 33 million.

China developed a one-child-per-couple policy in the 1970s and rolled it out in 1980 to counter overpopulation, with severe fines for couples having two or more children.

However, Beijing eased child birth regulations in 2013, and started allowing couples in some regions to have two children without paying fines if both parents were the only children in their families.

The country relaxed its laws again in late 2015, and now all couples in the country are allowed to have two children. According to a November 2015 article in the South China Morning Post, China is expected to hit its peak population of 1.45 billion people in 2029 under the new policy.