29th October, 2015
The Chinese government said it would abolish its one-child policy for a couple, a report said on Thursday.
The decision emanated from a meeting of the Central Committee of the ruling Communist Party, in Beijing, the report said.
“In future, all couples will be allowed to have two children,’’ it said.
The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences had earlier suggested a two-child solution to the problem of ageing population and a falling birth rate.
On average, Chinese women give birth to one child but a birth rate of 2 children is needed for a stable population.
The one-child policy was introduced in the 1970s to prevent a population explosion in the country.
According to estimates, without the policy, China’s current 1.3 billion population would have had around 300 million more people.