Family planning policy shift requires caution

The National Health and Family Planning Commission said on Friday that it is wasting no time in making new rules to allow all couples to have a second child. This is the first time the commission has shown its intention of completely lifting the restrictions on a second child. Comments:

China's birth rate is only 1.4, and it is very close to the "low birth rate trap". A replacement birth rate of 2.1 is considered the basic rate necessary to keep the population level no lower than to the previous generation. After implementing family planning policies for more than 10 years, Japan, South Korea and Singapore quickly ended the policies and started taking action to promote higher birth rate. China is in dire need of a rebound in its birth rate, rather than regarding new births as a burden on the economy.

Zhang Dongwei, professor of population studies at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, July 14