BEIJING — China's population will stay above 1.4 billion "for a certain period in future," said Ning Jizhe, head of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), at a press conference on May 11.

"China's population will peak in future, but there remains uncertainty as to when specifically it will happen," Ning said.

Based on the demographical trend in recent years, China's population growth will continue to slow down, he said.

He noted that the growth will also be affected by such factors as the age structure, people's ideas on having children, government's population policies, the cost of childbearing and parenting, medical service and health conditions of the people.

China's population on the mainland reached 1.41178 billion, growing 0.53 percent annually on average in the past decade, according to data from the latest national census, conducted in 2020, released by the NBS on May 11.

The rate was slightly lower than the average annual growth of 0.57 percent from 2000 to 2010, according to the NBS.

"Data shows that China's population has continued to maintain slow growth in the past decade," Ning said.