China, in big change of policy, says each couple can have 3 children
Premium- The policy change was approved during a politburo meeting on Monday chaired by President Xi Jinping
China announced on Monday that each couple would be permitted to have up to three children, a major policy shift from the existing limit of two children, after census data showed a dramatic decline in births.
The policy change was approved during a politburo meeting on Monday chaired by President Xi Jinping, the official news agency Xinhua reported, without saying when the change takes effect.
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As per the latest census, China's population grew at its slowest in the last decade since the 1950s. Its population grew by just 0.53 per cent to reach 1.41178 billion, up from 1.4 billion in 2019.
According to reports, the numbers are expected to decline from early next year, leading to labour shortages and a fall in consumption levels.
Earlier this month, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) released the seventh national population census. According to the numbers, China is facing a demographic crisis and it is expected to deepen in years to come.
In its report, the NBS says, "The further ageing of the population imposed continued pressure on the long-term balanced development of the population in the coming period."
The proportion of people aged between 15 and 59 was 894 million, down by 6.79 percentage points from that in the 2010 census, according to the report.
The growth rate of the population was 0.53 per cent annually on average in the seventh census conducted last year while it was 0.57 per cent in the sixth census in 2010 and 1.07 per cent in the fifth census held in 2000.
NBS head Ning Jizhe said: "Data shows that China's population has continued to maintain slow growth in the past decade."
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