Days before China's latest census is set to be released, President Hu Jintao announced that his nation will continue its one-child policy.

Jintao explained Wednesday that the strict birth limits are needed to ensure economic growth and development. The policy encourages abortion and even forced sterilization among the communist country's population to avoid any further pregnancies.

"The worry for China is not population growth," noted Wang Feng, a population expert and director of the Brookings-Tsinghua Center for Public Policy in Beijing. "It's rapid population aging and young people not wanting to have children."

"If Chinese leaders really choose to implement a policy of maintaining a low birth rate it will send China down a road of disaster," he warned.
    
China's one-child rule has been in place since 1979. The law is estimated to have reduced China's population by as much as 300 million people.