A new birth policy has been introduced in the East China?s Zhejiang province. According to the new policy, couples will be allowed to have two children, under the condition that one of them is an only child. The country’s Zhejiang province has become the first one to ease China’s?decades-long?family?planning?policy.
An amendment was approved by the Standing Committee of Zhejiang Provincial People?s Congress to the Zhejiang Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations. The latest policy went into force on January 17, 2014. The family planning policy was first introduced in China in the 1970’s, in an attempt to control the ever-growing population in the country.
The policy limited the majority of urban couples to just one child and most rural couples to two, if the first child was a girl. In the earlier version of the policy, it was mentioned that both parents must be only children if they want to have a second child. The new policy was passed during the bi-monthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People?s Congress on December 28, 2013.
The decision to relax the policy was first approved by the Third Plenary Session of the 18th Communist Party of China Central Committee which was held from November 9, 2013 to November 12, 2013 in Beijing.
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