China Officially Ends Three-decade-old One Child Policy

The law will commence on January 1, Xinhua news agency reported.

BEIJING-China’s lawmakers will allow all couples to have two children from the beginning of next year, implementing a new birth policy aimed at mitigating a potential demographic crisis.

This effectively dismantles the remnants of the country’s infamous one-child policy that had been eased in recent years.

Rural families were already allowed two children if the first was a girl, while ethnic minorities were allowed an extra offspring, leading some to dub it a “one-and-a-half child” policy.

Playing down reports of a poor response to removal of the decades-old one-child policy, China had said that besides generating a labour force of 30 million by 2050, the new policy could also boost stagnating growth in the world’s second-largest economy. The law was formally adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress as it wrapped up its bimonthly session. 100 million couples In accordance to Lu Jiehua, a sociologist at Peking College, the analysis will have an effect on 100 million couples.

The ruling Communist Party had said that Beijing would loosen its decades-old one-child policy.

“Couples that have two children could still be subjected to coercive and intrusive forms of contraception, and even forced abortions – which amount to torture”, China researcher William Nee said.

Some mainland hospitals are anticipating a surge in the number of people having a second child.

Nationwide, almost 1 million couples eligible under the new rules had applied to have a second child, state media reported at the time. According to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, the policy prevented about 400 million births from its inception up to 2005.

The ageing population has brought greater demand for elderly care services. China is the most populated country globally followed by India.