China starts relaxing one-child policy

BEIJING: China began to implement the loosening of its controversial one-child policy Friday when a province announced it has made it legal for couples to have two children if one parent is an only child.

Legislators in Zhejiang in eastern China Monday passed a revision to the local rules on Monday making the change, the provincial legislature said in a statement.

China´s National Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed to AFP that Zhejiang was the first province in the country to carry out the relaxation -- agreed by the country´s Communist leaders at a key party meeting in November and approved by the national parliament three weeks ago.

Demographic experts are warning that the world´s most populous country faces a labour shortage within the next two decades.

China´s family planning policy was put in place in the late 1970s to control the country´s booming population, and officials say it has been key to the country´s rising prosperity.

Under the rule, most parents are restricted to one offspring, with exceptions to date including some rural families whose first child is a girl, ethnic minorities and couples where both are only children. (AFP)