China set to relax one-child policy

China has pledged to loosen its one-child policy and allow couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child.

The move, which will be a major policy shift, was announced on state media days after the conclusion of a meeting between top Communist party leaders in Beijing.

Currently, couples can only have two children if both members are only children themselves but the under the new policy, couples in which one member is an only child will be allowed to have two children. On the other hand, some groups, including ethnic minorities and disabled people are allowed to have two children if the first child is a boy.

Initially child bearing was encouraged by the state due to economic growth, but following the 1979 policy; the then-Communist leaders established the policy to keep China's huge population in check.

The law has caused many social problems, including uncertainty for the elderly who are left with no real safety net because four grandparents and two parents only have one caretaker while human right groups have been calling for the abolishment of the policy as it has been brutally enforced in some cases.

"The birth policy will be adjusted and improved step-by-step to promote 'long-term balanced development of the population in China'," the news agency reported.

Yet despite calls for the loosening of the family-planning law and rumours that it might be reformed, Chinese officials have stressed that the policy is still needed as over-population threatens the country's development.

The state news agency also said that China will end its controversial re-education through labour programme, a system of administrative, extralegal detentions which allows police panels to sentence offenders up to four years in camps without a trial.

Pressure for change in the system has been building for years with human rights groups claiming that the policies breach human rights.