China may expand two-child policy to urban areas
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Based on the research of experts, family planning departments are currently considering lifting restrictions limiting the two-child policy to rural and minority areas, a CPPCC member said on March 6.
Wang Yuqing, CPPCC member and deputy director of the Committee of Population, Resources and Environment, said he is personally in favor of the gradual opening of the two-child policy. Currently, in the rural and minority areas of China, if the first child of a family is a girl, the family is allowed to have a second child.
As the aging population problem has become increasingly prominent in China and the demographic dividend has reached a certain stage, this policy should also be gradually opened in urban areas, he said.
Wang revealed that currently, related family planning departments are also considering this problem based on the research of many experts. He personally believes restrictions on the two-child policy will be lifted in urban areas at the end of the 12th Five-Year Plan period.
Wang said that the two-child policy will not lead to a population boom. He said that birth rates in large cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, are decreasing because the cost of raising a child has increased and young people's attitudes have also changed. This is also consistent with the international trend. If quality of life reaches a certain level, the population will naturally decrease without government control.
