2015年CRI New Family Planning Policy to Benefit China's Overall Growth: Official

 

On Thursday, the Communist Party of China announced a plan to abolish the decades-long One-Child Policy, allowing all couples to have two children. The announcement came amid increasing concerns over China's rapidly aging population and shrinking work force in recent years.

Li Bin¹, Director of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, says the change in policies will facilitate China's overall growth in the long run.

"The new policy will improve the demographic structure of China, increase labor² supply, ease pressure brought by an aging society, facilitate the healthy growth of China's population, and further contribute to the sustainable development of the economy."

According to official data, China had a population of 1.3 billion at the end of 2014, while 15 percent of them were above the age of 60 and 10 percent over the age of 65. China's labor force peaked at 940 million in 2012, dropping to 930 million by 2014. The figure is expected to decrease by another 29 million by 2020. The new plan announced on Thursday is expected to slow that decline in the long run.

Li Bin says the government will next work on updating current policies and regulations to implement³ the new plan.

"We will ratify⁴ and improve our policies and regulations, to focus on reproductive health, and strengthen services on women's health and childcare. We will also simplify policies to better serve those affected⁵ by the new plan, especially those families who may have special needs in terms of family planning. "

A final layout of the new policy is expected to be ratified⁶ by China's top legislature next March.

The new policy is expected to benefit around 100 million families across China.

In Beijing, a just married 27-year-old woman surnamed Wang expressed her delight after Thursday's announcement.

"My husband and I want to have two children because we were both raised in two-child families, and we enjoyed it. We knew that the one-child policy would be abandoned at some point, but we never thought it would come so soon. It's come in time for us!"

Some factors, however, could limit the new policy's short-term outcomes. Yuan Xin, a professor with Tianjin's Nankai University, says people born in the 1970's may be more enthusiastic about having a second child, while those born in the last three decades have no urgent desire to do so. Some have cited the high costs of child-rearing as a challenge for many young couples.

China launched the One-Child Policy in the 1970's to curb⁷ the surging population. The policy has reduced China's population growth by about 400 million since then. The policy was later relaxed to allow two children for couples who were both only children.

The Third Plenary Session of the 18th CPC Central Committee ruled in November 2013 that couples are allowed to have two children if one of them is an only child.

For CRI, I'm Victor Ning.

1 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

2 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

3 implement   

n.(pl.)工具，器具；vt.实行，实施，执行

参考例句：

• Don't undertake a project unless you can implement it.不要承担一项计划，除非你能完成这项计划。
• The best implement for digging a garden is a spade.在花园里挖土的最好工具是铁锹。

4 ratify   

v.批准，认可，追认

参考例句：

• The heads of two governments met to ratify the peace treaty.两国政府首脑会晤批准和平条约。
• The agreement have to be ratify by the board.该协议必须由董事会批准。

5 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

6 ratified   

v.批准，签认（合约等）( ratify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The treaty was declared invalid because it had not been ratified. 条约没有得到批准，因此被宣布无效。
• The treaty was ratified by all the member states. 这个条约得到了所有成员国的批准。

7 curb   

n.场外证券市场，场外交易；vt.制止，抑制

参考例句：

• I could not curb my anger.我按捺不住我的愤怒。
• You must curb your daughter when you are in church.你在教堂时必须管住你的女儿。