Family policy deserves a rethink

The National Health and Family Planning Commission has reiterated that even if the family planning policy were to be adjusted, it would not mean that couples could have a second baby if one of them came from a single-child family.

Nevertheless, it's time the authorities weighed the pros and cons of the family planning policy, which was implemented in the late 1970s to check population growth. There is no doubt that unchecked population growth in the 1980s and 1990s would have caused more harm than good to the families as well as to the country, because of the weak national economic foundation and already large population.

According to the current family planning policy, urban couples can have only one child. An urban couple can have a second child only if husband and wife both are from single-child families. In rural areas, though, couples have been allowed to have a second child if their firstborn is a girl. Ethnic groups other than Hans, on the other hand, have always been free to have two or more children.