1.3 billionth Chinese to be born on Thursday

Despite the commonly held belief, mainland China's population will officially reach 1.3bn only on Thursday January 6, officials at the National Bureau of Statistics announced. State media credited the government's controversial population control policies for delaying the landmark moment by four years. Officials said they expect China's population to continue growing at about 10m a year, topping out at around 1.46bn in the mid-2030s.