China's family planning authority agreed here on Wednesday to help developing countries increase their awareness of reproductive health and improve population management.

The National Population and Family Planning Commission of China signed three agreements at an on-going international conference on population and development with Partners in Population and Development (PPD), offering to provide training programs in population management and contraceptive supplies to developing countries.

PPD, a Bangladesh-based inter-governmental organization of developing countries, now has 21 members including China, India, Pakistan, and Egypt, covering more than 54 percent of the world's population.

According to the three agreements, China will provide two training programs for developing countries, likely in Africa, every year for the next four years. It will also donate 10 million yuan (US$1.3 million) worth of contraceptives to PPD member countries.

The agreements also invite China's relatively developed coastal provinces to offer technology, training, and reproductive health products and equipment to some PPD member countries.

Gill Greer, Director General of the International Planned Parenthood Federation said at the conference that China's help is of great value, as developing countries, especially in South Sahara African countries, are suffering high maternal and infant mortality and an AIDS epidemic.

(Xinhua News Agency November 9, 2006)