China to allow couples to have three children

Gulf Today Report

China will allow couples to have up to three children in the latest relaxation of its laws on family planning since the end of the “one-child policy” in 2013, according to state media.

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The change was approved during a politburo meeting chaired by President Xi Jinping, official news agency Xinhua reported. The politburo also said China would implement a delay in the retirement age.

The move comes after a dramatic decline in births in the world’s most populous country and “aims to improve China's population structure and actively respond to the country's ageing problem”, state media reported.

 Children wearing face masks are seen at Shanghai railway station. AFP

The one-child policy was part of China’s broad population control programme that was implemented from 1980, with a system of fines for violators and even forced abortions, according to the Independent. 

In November 2013, China announced a partial policy relaxation that allowed couples to have two children if one parent was themselves an only child. A further relaxation took place in 2016, allowing all couples to have up to two children.

Early this month, China's once-in-a-decade census showed that the population was growing at its slowest rate since the data-gathering exercise began in the 1950s, with data showing a fertility rate of 1.3 children per woman for 2020 alone, on par with ageing societies like Japan and Italy.