By John Ikani
China has announced that it will allow each couple to have up to three children, marking the end of a strict two-child policy.
The move according to media outlet Xinhua, was approved by President Xi Jinping in a politburo meeting.
It comes after a once-in-a-decade census showed that China’s population grew at its slowest pace in decades.
It was widely expected after the census data results were released that China would relax its family policy rules.
The census, released earlier this month, showed that around 12 million babies were born last year – a significant decrease from the 18 million in 2016, and the lowest number of births recorded since the 1960s.
This has added pressure on Beijing to boost measures for couples to have more babies and avert a population decline.
Previous population control measures
China’s population trends have over the years been largely shaped by the one-child policy, which was introduced in 1979 to slow population growth.
In 2016 The government of revised the controversial one-child policy to allow couples have two children, a move which saw a two year increase in birth rate but ultimately failed to reverse the country’s falling birth rate.
Families that violated the rules faced fines, loss of employment and sometimes forced abortions.
