China has formally revised its laws to allow couples to have up to three children, to boost the birth rate.
The regulation was one of several passed on Friday at a meeting of the country’s top lawmakers, the National People’s Congress (NPC).
Details on a controversial anti-sanctions law for Hong Kong, which many businesses feared would put them in a difficult position, were also expected.
But Hong Kong media reported on Friday that the decision had been delayed.
What is the three-child policy?
China had announced back in May that it would allow couples to have up to three children, in a major policy shift.
That decision has now been formally passed into law, along with several resolutions aimed at boosting the birth rate and “reducing the burden” of raising a child, said Xinhua news agency.
These include cancelling the “social maintenance fee” – a financial penalty couples pay for having children beyond the limit, encouraging local governments to offer parental leave, increasing women’s employment rights; and improving childcare infrastructure.
Recent census data had shown a steep decline in the birth rate.
In 2016, the country had scrapped its decades-old one-child policy to replace it with a two-child limit, but this failed to lead to a sustained upsurge in births.
The cost of raising children in cities has deterred many Chinese couples.
BBC
