China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy.
Couples will now be allowed to have two children, the state-run Xinhua news agency said, citing a statement from the ruling Communist Party.
The policy was introduced in 1979 to slow the population growth rate and is estimated to have prevented 400 million births. In rural areas, families were allowed to have two children if the first was a girl.
However, concerns over China’s ageing population led to pressure for change.
The decision to allow two children was designed “to improve the balanced development of population’’ and to deal with an aging population, said the Community Party’s Central Committee on Thursday.
Currently, about 30% of China’s population is over the age of 50. The total population is 1.36 billion.
The Communist Party began formally relaxing national rules two years ago, allowing couples in which at least one is an only child, to have a second child.
