China's Zhejiang province relaxes family planning policy

HANGZHOU, China, Jan. 17 (UPI) -- East China's Zhejiang province debuted a new birth policy Friday allowing couples to have two children if one of the parents is an only child, officials said.

The Standing Committee of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress approved the policy as an amendment to the Zhejiang Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations, the official Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

China's family planning policy was first implemented in the late 1970s and allowed most urban couples only one child and rural couples two children if the first child was a girl. The policy was relaxed over the years, allowing urban and rural couples who were both only children to have a second child.