China passes law for third child support
China had ended the one child policy in 2016, when it allowed all couples to have a second child
The Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress (NPC), China’s top legislature, concluded its 30th session on Friday morning, where it passed multiple laws, reported the Chinese media.
One of the much talked about and anticipated ones was on the amendment on the Population and Family Planning Law.
Chinese President Xi Jinping signed presidential orders to promulgate the laws and decisions. Li Zhanshu, chairman of the NPC Standing Committee, presided over the closing meeting.
The amendment stipulates that under the Population and Family Planning Law, China will support couples having a third child with supportive measures in such areas as funding, taxation, insurance, education, housing and employment to reduce the burden of childbirth and child-rearing.
A meeting of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee in May stressed that the three-child policy will help improve the nation’s population structure, preserve human resource advantages and actively respond to the aging of the population.
According to the latest census data, people aged 60 and above accounted for 18.7 percent of China’s total population in 2020, 5.44 percentage points higher than that in 2010.
China in 2013 allowed couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child, and in 2016 allowed all married couples to have two children, ending the one-child policy.
