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takyon [soylentnews.org] writes:

Confronted By Aging Population China Allows Couples To Have Three Children [npr.org]

China will now allow married couples to have up to three children as the country attempts to halt a declining birthrate.

The policy is a dramatic change for a country which, less than a decade ago, still performed forced abortions [nytimes.com] and sterilizations [npr.org] of women who had more than one child. The new three child limit raises the previous ceiling of two children. It is a recognition from the country's top leaders that China will need to undertake drastic measures to counter a rapidly aging society.

"Implementing the policy and its relevant supporting measures will help improve China's population structure, actively respond to the aging population, and preserve the country's human resource advantages," China's Politburo, a top Communist Party governing body, wrote in a statement [xinhuanet.com] published on China's state news agency Xinhua on Monday.

Only five years ago, China officially ended its One Child policy, a raft of restrictions that for more than three decades strictly limited couples to only one child. Those who had two or more children in violation of the policy were fined heavily. Pregnant women were sometimes effectively kidnapped by local family planning officials who cajoled, intimidated, or forced women to end the birth.

Also at BBC [bbc.com].

See also: China's new three-child policy sends baby and maternity stocks soaring [cnn.com]

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