Text: | Print|

Zhejiang gives leeway on one-child policy changes

2014-01-20 08:56 Shanghai Daily Web Editor: Sun Tian
1

Couples in eastern Zhejiang Province are being shown some flexibility concerning an amendment to the one-child policy introduced there last Friday.

Under changes approved by the Zhejiang Province People's Congress, following an announcement by the Party in November, couples with one partner from a one-child family can have a second child.

Previously, in most cases, both of the couple had to come from one-child families to have two children. Couples not adhering faced a fine.

Under both systems couples must apply, presenting documents to family planning officials to prove eligibility.

But Zhejiang authorities have announced that couples who recently had a second child and would have been eligible under the new policy will not face a fine — provided fine has not already been issued.

And applications from women due to give birth before June 30 will be fast-tracked so they are processed in time.

Officials will give timely responses to applications, with staff visiting homes, Zhejiang Province Governor Li Qiang told Xinhua news agency.

Li said the amendment to the one-child policy was needed to address an aging population. Zhejiang has a working population of 32 million and this had been predicted to shrink to 18 million by 2050.

"People have been longing for the new population policy for a long time and we must adopt it as soon as possible," Li said.

A survey in Zhejiang found that about 30 percent of couples eligible to have a second child under the new policy did not plan to do so, citing their ages, financial commitments and careers as factors.

The provincial health authority said Zhejiang will see 100,000 more children delivered annually in the first five years of the policy.

Comments (0)
Most popular in 24h
  Archived Content
Media partners:

Copyright ©1999-2018 Chinanews.com. All rights reserved.
Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.