Shockingly few couples seek 2nd child

Newborn babies are seen at the Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University in Shanghai. — Shanghai Daily/Zhang Haiyan

Less than three in every 100 couples eligible to have a second child under China's relaxed family planning policy have applied to do so, shocking experts and defying their predictions about a population explosion in China.

There were various forecasts on population growth after the amended policy was put into place, ranging from 1 million to 10 million a year, but the small number of couples applying is an early indication that those worries were unwarranted.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Committee, only about 270,000 couples in which either the husband or wife is an only child have applied to have a second child by May 31 — about 2.5 percent of the eligible 11 million couples. Some 241,300 have been approved.

"It is a surprising number to everybody, including government officials and population scholars with different attitudes to the policy as well," says Wang Feng, guest professor of Social Development and Public Policy School of Fudan University. "It has always been a big concern that the amended family planning policy may arouse a rebound in birth, but now, it just seems to be impossible."

Government officials consider it a good start for the policy amendment but feel it's still too early to further relax the policy.

But some experts suggest more encouragement is needed to alter the quickly aging country.

Having a big family with lots of children — boys and girls — used to be an ideal picture of a happy family in Chinese culture. However, most Chinese families gave up that dream and went with only one child since the family planning policy was promoted at the end of the 1970s and set as a basic state policy in 1982.

The policy was designed to slow down population growth to conserve limited resources in the world's most populous country.

Now, facing a quickly aging population in recent years, the radical policy was first relaxed in 2000 for couples where both the husband and wife were only children. It was expanded to couples where only one was an only child late last year.

The amended policy has been carried out in 29 provinces and autonomous regions — all of China's mainland except Tibet and Xinjiang — early this year. The 11 million eligible couples' reaction to the new policy may become an important factor as officials decide whether to amend it further. The policy was enacted in Shanghai on March 1.