China's population to near 1.4 billion by 2015

Nanjing (China), July 4(ANI): China's population is projected to reach 1.39 billion by the end of 2015.

Li Bin, Director of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, released the estimate during the annual conference of the China Population Association in Nanjing.

According to the estimate, the urban population is projected to be over 700 million over the next five years, exceeding the rural population for the first time.Li said the increase in the next five years would be based upon the nation's population momentum, which, she believes would begin to decline after 2015, Xinhua reports.

Chinese government statistics show that China's population is at 1.32 billion at the end of 2008, which was about 2.5 times the number in 1949 when the People's Republic of China was founded. ANI)