MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Chinese parliament made an amendments in the legislation, allowing for all couples in the country to have two children, local media reported on Sunday.
In October, draft amendments to the law, regulating the number of children in a family, were proposed to the country's lawmakers, however, they needed an approval by top legislative body.
According to the Xinhua news agency, Chinese lawmakers approved amendments in country's Law on Population and Family Planning, which increase the number of allowed children for a couple up to two.
China initiated a one-child-per-couple policy in the 1970s and adopted it in 1980 to counter overpopulation, with severe fines for couples having two or more children. According to the National Population and Family Planning Commission, the policy prevented about 400 million births from its inception up to 2005.
Beijing eased child birth regulations in 2013, allowing couples in several regions to have two children without paying fines if both parents were the only children in their families.
