China repeals the 'three family planning laws' as population growth rate declines

The three Chinese laws, including laws on family planning, work for the migrant population, social maintenance costs and technical services for family planning, were repealed by China's State Council on Sunday. According to an official press release, the three laws were repealed in order to adapt to the country's changing position in terms of population, economic and social growth, optimise the fertility policy and achieve long-term balanced population development.

The Chinese government has scrapped the Regulation on the Administration of Family Planning Technical Services which was enacted in 2001 and revised in 2004, Measures for the Administration of Social Maintenance Fees, enacted in 2002 and Regulation on the Administration of Family Planning Technical Services which was enacted in 2009. During China's one-child policy, the government enacted and implemented all of these laws.

The move comes after China approved an amendment to the Population and Family Planning Law

According to Global Times, this move comes after China's National People's Congress Standing Committee approved an amendment to the Population and Family Planning Law, allowing each couple to have three children and establishing support measures for the new policy. According to analysts, the elimination of these regulations is a complement to the August amendment of the family planning law.

According to He Yafu, an independent demographer, the equivalent old regulations do not fulfil the provisions of the new law, so they must be amended or repealed. He further said that these three rules are part of the lower law, while Population and Family Planning Law is the higher law. He also remarked that as a result of the revocation, the lower legislation cannot contradict the higher law.

China's family planning laws have allowed the government to force hundreds of millions of Chinese women to have abortions or undergo sterilisation procedures in order to regulate the population for decades. Since their one-child policy, which limited couples to one child in order to alleviate poverty and prevent a population explosion more than 40 years ago, China's birth rate has been gradually declining.

China lifted its family planning regulations in May

Following a four-year fall in the number of births, China lifted its family planning regulations in May, allowing each couple to have up to three children, intending to improve the country's demographic structure and actively address the ageing problem. The total fertility rate in China has dropped fast from 1.7 per woman in 2016 to 1.3 in 2020, as per the reports of Global Times.

(Inputs from ANI)

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