New family planning rule to create mini baby boom

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The suggested relaxation of the family planning policy is expected to bring China roughly 13 million more babies in five or six years, top demographers said.

The Communist Party of China decided last month to relax the rules by allowing couples to have a second child if one of the parents is an only child. Previously, a husband and wife were both required to be single children if they wanted a second child.

"If China continues the old policy, the birth rate would continue falling and lead to a sharp drop of the population after reaching a peak," Li Bin, minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said when elaborating on the "second child" bill to the top legislature on Monday.

The State Council has submitted a bill to adjust the country's family planning policy to the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, which runs from Monday to Saturday.

The country's working population began to drop in 2017 by 3.45 million annually, and it is likely to fall by 8 million annually after 2023.

Those aged 60 and above will reach 400 million and account for one-fourth of the population in the early 2030s, up from one-seventh now.

"It is the right time to do it as the low birth rate is stable, the working population is still large and the burden to support the elderly is relatively light," Li said.

The change would lead to a mini baby boom lasting five or six years with an additional 2 million births a year on average, said Zhai Zhenwu, director of the School of Sociology and Population Studies at Renmin University of China.

The new rules are expected to make 15 to 20 million Chinese couples eligible to have a second child, he said.

A survey Zhai conducted a year ago found more than 60 percent of newly eligible families were willing to have a second baby.

Questions:

1. How many more babies are expected to be born if the family planning policy is relaxed?

2. Who is Li Bin?

3. How many Chinese couples are expected to be eligible to have a second child?

Answers:

1. Roughly 13 million more.

2. Minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

3. 15-20 million.

About the broadcaster:

Anne Ruisi is an editor at China Daily online with more than 30 years of experience as a newspaper editor and reporter. She has worked at newspapers in the U.S., including The Birmingham News in Alabama and City Newspaper of Rochester, N.Y.