This coming New Year, China's one-child policy will end, to be replaced by a two-child policy that will take effect starting Jan. 1. National People's Congress Standing Committee approved the latest legislation on Sunday.
"The state advocates that one couple shall be allowed to have two children," the recently changed Law on Population and Family Planning of China stated, according to CNN. This is in total opposition of the one-child policy China is known for.
The top official of China announced the possibility of the two-child policy in October, but waited for the approval of the National People's Congress before it finally became a law, according to Xinhua News Agency.
Numbers have shown that China is still at the top spot in world population with 1.37 billion, but the Chinese working-age is slowly diminishing. By 2030, 85 percent of China's population will be 65 years old and above.
"To promote a balanced growth of population, China will continue to uphold the basic national policy of population control and improve its strategy on population development," the Communist Party announced in October, according to the International Business Times. "China will fully implement the policy of 'one couple, two children' in a proactive response to the issue of an aging population."
In the 1970s, China implemented the one-child policy to control the rapid population growth. It is assumed that fines in line with the one-child policy will no longer be implemented. However, critics question the effectivity of the new law.
"Couples that have two children could still be subjected to coercive and intrusive forms of contraception, and even forced abortions - which amount to torture," researcher William Nee said, according to the Shanghaiist. "The state has no business regulating how many children people have."
On a survey conducted by Sina News, 29 percent said they agree to having two children but 28 percent is undecided. 43 percent of the 164,106 respondents said they will not have two children because it can be costly, Shanghaiist added.
