There is much talk about slowing down of China's economic growth because of a drop in the working age population in the coming future. Some people say China will become an aging country before it gets rich. Therefore, many Chinese people want the government to loosen the family planning policy to ensure optimum availability of working age people in the future.

But the discussion on aging population and labor force should not be limited to the country's family planning policy and birth rate. Instead, policymakers should take effective measures to reduce the infant mortality rate to solve the aging problem.

China's infant mortality rate is still high compared with that of developed countries. Many may argue that that is the case because China is still a developing country with a large number of poor people. But if China can work countless economic miracles, it can also reduce infant mortality rate - and let the fruits of economic development be shared by all citizens.

People who are talking about loosening the family planning policy, too, should find ways to bring down the infant mortality, and one way of doing that is to allocate more funds to public health.

Kai Xue, via e-mail

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(China Daily 08/04/2011 page9)