PIP: Mao Zedong's thoughts on population were based upon the positions, viewpoints, methods, and basic theory of Marxism, with some adjustments made according to China's practical situation. The population theory of Marxism was developed and used with creative elements. Mao Zedong's thoughts on population can be summarized in three points: (1) An understanding of China's backwar economy and culture and their relationship to overpopulation. There is an urgent need to solve the population problem. (2) An understanding of the close relationship between material production and the reproduction of human beings themselves. A balance between the two should be achieved. (3) Family planning should be practiced so that population growth may be put under control. Under the leadership of Deng Xiaoping, the Party's Central Committee has reconfirmed and developed Mao Zedong's population thoughts in various important official documents and writings. In such new writings, special emphasis is placed on the fact that with limited arable land, China has to plan its population growth and that family planning should be made part of the national policy. With ideological education serving as a foundation, special administrative actions and economic measures should be taken to motivate and transform the general public. Mao Zedong's thoughts on population and related new developments represent the crystallization of the Party's collective wisdom.