WUHAN, Sept. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- Owing to its family planning policy starting from the 1970s, China has lowered its fertility rate to the level of developed countries, said a report released here Tuesday.

    By reducing fertility, China has successfully brought excessive population growth under control, according to China Population and Development Country Report published at the International Forum onPopulation and Development that opened here in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province.

    The birth rate and natural increase rate declined from 21.06 per thousand and 14.39 per thousand in 1990 to 12.41 per thousand and 6.01 per thousand in 2003. The total fertility rate remains below a replacement level and the contraceptive prevalence rate keeps around 83 percent, the report said.

    In China, population and development planning have grown in importance as an integral component of national socioeconomic development.

    At the annual summit on population, resources and environment convened by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China in 2004, population and development strategy research and planningwere given top priority in the field of population and family planning.

    Through the legislation of the Population and Family Planning Law, which went into effect on Sept. 1, 2002, China enhanced the authority and authenticity of population planning and announced a human-oriented, rights-based approach.

    In 2003, the State Family Planning Commission was renamed National Population and Family Planning Commission, taking on a new responsibility of research on population and development strategy.

    According to the report, a state-level research of population and development strategy is going on to promote balanced development among human beings, society, economy, resources, and the environment in a sustainable way.