One-child policy

China has announced its first population decline in decades as what has been the world's most populous nation ages and its birthrate plunges.

Chinese authorities have decided to grant couples across the country the right to have up to three children now, Xinhua reported on Monday.

According to the agency, the decision was made at a meeting of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. It is not clear when the measure will take effect.

In the past decade, China has had the lowest population growth since the introduction of the one-child policy in the 1970s, whereby each couple was only allowed to have one child. This is evident from the 2020 census, of which the national statistics office announced the results on Tuesday.

China has launched a campaign to check severe distress in its economic and social stability that may also pose a threat to Chinese Communist Party rule caused by a sharp plunge in marriage rates due to the one-child policy.

The end of "one-child policy" could not stop China's declining birth rate, the BBC reported.

The birth rate has dropped to its lowest level since the inception of the People's Republic of China 70 years ago - despite the elimination of "one-child policy".

The birth rate was 10.48 per thousand in 2019 - the lowest since 1949, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

The number of births in China fell last year even though the world’s most populous country has relaxed its one-child policy to allow all couples to have two children.

As soon as China abandoned its one-child policy a year ago, the country experienced a baby boom with around one million extra babies expected.
 
Chinese National Health and Family Planning Commission Deputy Director Wang Pei'an said China was undergoing a minor baby boom, with almost one million more newborns expected this year, according to official media reports.

Authorities in China's capital will extend leave from work for new mothers and fathers, state media reported on March 25, in what appeared to be the latest incentive to encourage families to have more children.

The world's largest economy faces a shrinking labour force and ageing population, meaning it could be the first country in the world to age before it first gets rich. 

Married couples in China will from Jan. 1, be allowed to have two children, after concerns over an ageing population and shrinking workforce ushered in an end to the country's controversial one-child policy.  

The change, which was announced in October by the ruling Communist Party, takes effect from Jan. 1, Beijing's official Xinhua news agency reported over the weekend.

Married couples in China are allowed to have two children, starting on January 1.

The decision to reverse the one-child policy, introduced in the 1970, was announced in October.