Days of the one-child rule could be numbered as Beijing considers change
Experts call for uniform two children a couple policy as old law piles up problems
For three decades it has been the subject of intense debate and rancour, preventing as many as 400 million births - mostly of baby girls. But China is now considering axing its one-child policy, a senior family planning official said yesterday, amid concerns about the gender imbalance and the ageing population.
Dr Zhao Baige, at the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) said detailed studies into the environmental, social and other implications of changing the laws had begun.
Asked if there were plans to scrap the one-child policy, she said: "I cannot answer at what time or how [we will decide], but this has really become a big issue among decision makers. We want to have a transition from control to a slow down [relaxation], incrementally. The attitude is to do the studies, to consider it responsibly."
The controversial rules, which restrict most urban families to a single child but allow many rural couples to have two, were introduced to stop the world's largest national population from soaring out of control and outstripping resources.
中国在考虑结束独生子女政策
三十年来，这一政策一直是争论的焦点。该政策减少了4亿人口出生，其中多数为女婴。但是，在面临考虑到人口平衡和老龄化问题时，中国资深的计划生育官员于昨天说到中国现在在考虑更改独生子女政策。国家人口和计划生育委员会（计生委）的赵白鸽博士说关于环境、社会以及更改该法律的影响的调查已经开始了。当被问到是否有取消独生子女政策的计划时，她说：“我不能回答何时如何[我们将决定]，但是这已经成了决策者们考虑的重大问题。我们希望将控制转变为递减的放慢[减缓]。我们的态度是做好研究，负责地考虑这个问题。”限制大多数城市家庭只能有一个孩子，却允许乡村夫妇有两个孩子。这一有争议的政策曾阻止了世界最大的人口国人口暴增失控及资源缺失。
posted @ 2008-02-29 21:50
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