每日英语：China Considers Population Policy Shift

China plans to strip power from the agency that oversees its one-child policy, in a move observers said could maean the eventual phaseout of the much criticized population-control effort.

strip：剥去，除去　　　　oversee：监督，监视　　　　phaseout：逐步停止　　　　

The proposal, put forth on Sunday by a top official during the annual meeting of China's legislature, comes as economists both inside and outside the country increasingly warn that the policy helps to precipitate a demographic crisis that threatens growth in the world's No. 2 economy as its population rapidly ages.

put forth：提出，出生，长出　　　　legislature：立法机关　　　　precipitate：沉淀，加速，促进　　　　

The one-child policy is already under fire from critics who say some local officials force Chinese to undergo forced sterilizations and abortions to meet population targets.

under fire：受到严厉批评，遭到攻击　　　　sterilization：消毒，杀菌，绝育　　　　abortion：流产，堕胎

State Councilor Ma Kai on Sunday proposed before the National People's Congress that the National Population and Family Planning Commission, which has overseen the one-child policy for more than three decades, become part of China's Ministry of Health. Mr. Ma also proposed shifting the power to set population targets to the National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic-planning body.

The proposal is virtually certain to go into effect because the rubber-stamp congress typically approves measures submitted by top Communist party leaders.

virtually：事实上，实质上，几乎　　　　rubber-stamp：不经审查就批准，批准　　　　

While the family planning agency will still exist, merging with the Ministry of Health, leaders have preserved it merely as a face-saving measure, said Wang Feng, a population expert and director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing. 'The way to interpret this is that the laws are in effect, but the judges and the policemen have all been fired,' Mr. Wang said.

face-saving：保全体面的，顾全面子的　　　　

Cheng Li, a political expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., said, 'This is a signal to an end of a policy that in reality isn't in line with China's other reforms.'

The proposal was part of a number of others intended to streamline bureaucracy and that also needed to public flash points in China's rapid growth and development. Others included consolidating food and drug regulatory responsibilities under one agency and elevating it to general administration status to address mount worries over the safety and quality of what China eats.

streamline：使合理化，流线型　　　　bureaucracy：官僚主义，官僚计划　　　　regulatory：管理的，控制的，调整的　　　　

As expected, Chinese officials proposed breaking up China's troubled Ministry of Railways into separate operating and regulatory bodies, and consolidating its coast guard and fishery enforcement arms at a time when China's maritime presence is becoming an increasing factor in territorial disputes with neighbors like Japan and the Philippines.

territorial：领土的，区域的　　　　

Chinese officials haven't given any indication that they plan immediate, specific changes on population policy. At the start of the congress last week, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said in a report that China's population policy should be approved but added, 'we should adhere to the basic state policy on family planning.' In January, family-planning commission Chairman Wang Xia said maintaining a low birthrate would be a top priority.

adhere to：坚持，依附，追随　　　　 

The the economic-planning body, the NDRC, hasn't indicated it has different views of population levels than the family-planning commission. In terms of enforcement, that could depend on the next health minister, said Li Zhongtang, a population expert from the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences. One favorite to take the position is the current governor of China's central Anhui province, Li Bin, who led the Family Planning Commission from 2008 to 2011.

'The family planning and one-child policy has been running for so many years, and it is in the constitution as state policy,' said Li Jianxin, a population expert from Peking University. 'So I guess it might not be this easy for the new leaders to just simply put an end to it.'

Still, experts hope that the NDRC will nod to China's growing demographic problems because of its responsibilities as China's economic planner. Mr. Li said he believed population will now be managed to take into account factors such as the economy, not merely the sheer number of people inside China.

China's one-child policy limits China's couples to having only one child. Violators can face financial penalties. Minority groups are exempt, and anyone with enough money can get around penalties for having a second child. Rural families whose first child is a girl may have a second child, as can married couples who are both themselves only children.

penalty：处罚，罚金　　　　exempt：豁免的，免除的　　　　

Forced abortions and sterilizations are illegal in China, but local officials sometimes force people to undergo such procedures to meet population targets. That has made China's population controls a lightning rod for Christians and human-rights activists in the West. The issue took center stage in U.S.-China relations last year when blind legal activist Chen Guangcheng, who exposed forced abortions in Shandong province, escaped house arrest and fled to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing, later arriving in the U.S.

lightning rod：避雷针　　　　

In China, the one-child policy appears increasingly out of place in a society where individual freedoms have greatly expanded. The policy drew nationwide public condemnation last year when photos appeared on the Internet showing a fully formed fetus lying in a pool of blood next to its mother, who was forced to have an abortion. The family later agreed to accept more than $11,000 in compensation from the government.

out of place：不合适的，不相称的　　　　

The policy is increasingly blamed for shrinking China's labor pool. The absolute size of the working population, aged 15 to 59, fell by 3.45 million people last year, to 937 million, Ma Jiantang, head of China's National Bureau of Statistics, said in a news briefing in January.

The reserve of future workers, meaning those under the age of 14, made up 16.6% of the population in 2010, according to a once-a-decade census released the following year. That was down from 23% a decade earlier.

China's population totaled 1.339 billion in 2010, reflecting an average annual growth rate of 0.57% over the past decade. In the decade that ended in 2000, the growth rate was 1.07%.

Mr. Wang, of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center, said population targets are expected to be increasingly weak over time, as the government looks to secure its labor force.

Mr. Wang said a full unraveling of the policy would be lengthy and arduous. The family-planning commission employs more than 500,000 workers across the country.

lengthy：漫长的 　　　　　　   arduous：艰巨的  　　　　　　　　 be blamed for：因...被责备