In this photo taken Tuesday, Nov. 12, 2013, a child in a stroller is accompanied by several adults on the streets of Beijing. China announced a loosening of family planning rules that limit many couples to a single child, in the first substantial change to the unpopular policy in nearly three decades as leaders seek to address a rapidly aging population.BEIJING – China’s leaders announced on Friday the first significant easing of the country’s one-child policy in nearly 30 years and moved to abolish an often-abused labor camp system, while vowing some of the most ambitious economic reforms in recent Chinese history.
The long-debated changes to the family planning rules and labor camp system address deeply unpopular programs at a time when the Communist Party feels increasingly alienated from the public.
The extent of the changes surprised some analysts. They were contained in a policy document issued after a four-day meeting of party leaders in Beijing one year after Xi Jinping took the country’s helm.
The leaders pledged to open state-owned industries to more competition, improve anti-corruption efforts and make the legal system more fair, while signaling their firm intention to keep the country’s one-party system intact.
“It shows the extent to which Xi is leading the agenda, it shows this generation of leaders is able to make decisions,” said University of Chicago China expert Dali Yang. “This is someone who’s much more decisive, who has the power, and who has been able to maneuver to make the decisions.”