China in no rush to relax one-child policy

Beijing: Couples eager to have a second child should wait until revised regulations are passed down to local levels, family planning officials have said.

The move comes as the Communist Party of China is set to relax the one-child policy in the country. Senior officials have asked eager parents to wait until local regulations are revised. According to China Daily, Wang Pei`an, vice-minister of the National Population and Family Planning Commission, issued the caution in an online news release on Saturday. Chinese couples with one spouse being an only child would be permitted to have two children, if they choose, the CPC said. Currently, couples in which both parents are only children can have two. The latest adjustment to China`s family planning laws comes after years of a strict one-child policy. It is expected to affect between 15 and 20 million people on the mainland, experts estimated. The landmark initiative was also necessary to address demographic challenges, such as a rapidly aging population and a shrinking labor force, it said.