Chinese population experts are predicting a mini-baby boom before 2010 as a result of the country's family planning laws.

However, Zhang Weiqing, Minister in charge of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, stressed that family planning laws would remain to stabilize the low birth rate.

The expected boom would be small compared to the previous ones in the early 1950s and 1960s and the late 1980s, he said.

Almost 100 million single children had been born since the initiation of the one-child policy in 1973. Most had reached the age of marriage and childbirth, he said in an interview with "Qiushi" (Seeking Truth From Facts) magazine.

Meanwhile, rural couples had been allowed to have a second child if the first was a girl since 1984. These children were also entering adulthood.

Experts estimate that China's 1.3 billion population would be more than 1.7 billion now without the family planning policy.

Government statistics show that the average family birth rate is 1.8 at present, compared to 5.8 in the early 1970s when the policy was introduced.