Fujian relaxes one-child policy

East China's Fujian province has relaxed its family planning policy to allow couples to have a second child if each parent is an only child, the local legislature said.

An amendment to the Fujian Provincial Population and Family Planning Regulations was passed at a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Fujian Provincial People's Congress on Saturday.

Results of a survey conducted by the provincial government showed that 60 percent of families that are eligible to have a second child, are willing to have another baby.

The policy change may mean 56,000 newborns in the next two years, according to the survey.

China's family planning policy, put in place in the late 1970s, is designed to curb population growth.

Besides Fujian, the municipalities of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai and Chongqing as well as the provinces of Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui, Sichuan, Guangdong and Jiangsu have also changed their policies.