Changes to one-child policy considered
(chinadaily.com.cn/agencies)
Updated: 2008-03-02 21:50

China may consider changing and improving its one-child policy because it has succeeded in helping to slow population growth in the past three decades, a Chinese official said Sunday.

The policy, launched in the 1970s, has produced "very good results," said Wu Jianmin spokesman for the first session of the 11th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference at a press conference in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

There would be an estimated 300 million to 400 million more people in China without the policy, Wu said.

"The one-child policy was the only choice we had given the conditions when we initiated the policy," Wu told reporters at the conference the day before the CPPCC convened for its annual session.

However, he added, "when designing a policy we need to take into consideration the reality."

"So as things develop, there might be some changes to the policy and relevant departments are considering this," Wu said without giving a timeline or details on which departments would be involved.