A Chinese woman strolls past an advertisement in central Beijing January 4. China's population grew...

A Chinese woman strolls past an advertisement in central Beijing January 4. China's population grew at an average rate of 1.1 percent a year from 1993-97 and at the end of 1998, the population was estimated at 1.25 billion. A one-child family policy was introduced in 1980 with the aim of limiting the population to 1.2 billion by 2000. So unpopular was the policy in the countryside that it was relaxed in many areas to allow families whose first child was a girl a second chance. China's population is expected to continue growing until the middle of this century.