Although a specific date has yet to be set for the full relaxation of the rule, observers note that changes are likely to come soon. (Photo : REUTERS)
China's cabinet, the State Council, has submitted for reading the bill that seeks to ease the country's long-time one-child policy, and allow couples to have two children if at least one spouse is an only child.
The bill was set for consideration in the agenda of the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC). The bi-monthly session runs Monday to Saturday, and the bill will be among those that will be discussed. The State Council said the bill seeks to adjust the country's family planning policy by allowing parents to have two children.
According to the State Council, there is a great need to relax the existing one-child policy as the country faces a continuously declining birth rate. Allowing couples to have two children will also address China's changing demographic structure. The bill stated that the country' birth rate dropped between 1.5 and 1.6 since the 1990s. It added that unless the current family planning policy is amended, China will face a possible drop in the working population.
The Bureau of Statistics said China's working population is declining by 3.45 million annually, and could further drop by 8 million yearly after 2023. Li Bin, the minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that unless the current policy will be amended, China's birth rate will continue to drop.
Chinese people aged 60 and above will rise to 400 million and will account for one-fourth of the country's total population in the early 2030s. During the Third Plenum, a resolution that seeks to allow two children per couple was disclosed, but only if either of the parents is a single child.
Based on the data gathered during the 6th National Population Census in 2011, 37.5 percent of the Chinese population was restricted to just one child while 5.8 percent of the total population was eligible to have two children.
The bill has been scheduled for reading by the top legislature.
