×

Our award-winning reporting has moved

Context provides news and analysis on three of the world’s most critical issues:

climate change, the impact of technology on society, and inclusive economies.

China considers scrapping birth limits by 2019 - Bloomberg

by Reuters
Monday, 21 May 2018 13:19 GMT

Children perform a Kung Fu Fan dance while carrying plastic eggs during the "egg protection" activity designed by the school for its students to understand motherhood in Guilin, Guangxi province, China May 11, 2018. REUTERS/Stringer

Image Caption and Rights Information

China implemented its one-child policy in the 1970s to limit population growth

HONG KONG, May 21 (Reuters) - China is considering ending the limits it sets on the number of children a family can have, Bloomberg reported on Monday, citing people familiar with the matter.

China's population is ageing rapidly, with the number of births falling by 3.5 percent to 17.23 million last year despite the country's decision in late 2015 to relax the controversial "one-child" policy and allow couples to have a second child.

The State Council, or cabinet, has commissioned research on ending the country's birth limits on a nationwide basis, the Bloomberg report said.

A decision could be made in the last quarter of this year or in 2019, the report said.

China implemented its one-child policy in the 1970s to limit population growth, but authorities are concerned that a dwindling workforce will not be able to support an increasingly ageing population.

The one-child policy also contributed to a sharp gender imbalance, with 32.66 million more males than females at the end of 2017.

(Reporting by Meg Shen Editing by Tony Munroe)

Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

-->