Shanghai, China's largest city, is set to implement a new population policy beginning Thursday that will make it a bit easier for certain locals to have a second child.

The new Shanghai population and family planning regulation, which was approved by Shanghai People's Congress late last year, allows a husband and wife who both are single children themselves to have a second child.

The new policy also cancels the four-year interval between the first and second child that was required by the old regulation.

Originally, only a couple in a second marriage could have another child if one of the spouses did not already have one. The new regulation removes this restriction, so that a newly organized family can have one more child even if both husband and wife have children from earlier marriages.

Under the old regulation, if one spouse in a rural area is disabled to such an extent that it affects his or her ability to work, the family can have a second child. This right will now be extended to urban families.

The loosening of the restrictions opens "a small crack" in the old family planning policy in Shanghai, one of the most densely populated areas in China.

The policy readjustments, although only small in scope, indicate more humanitarian care.

It also represents decision-makers' concern for the city's aging population, pointed out Zhang Henian, deputy director of the Institute of Population and Development Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences.

Zhang noted that the city government needs to loosen certain population policies in Shanghai's suburbs further while continuing to control population growth in the city's congested downtown areas.

"To refine the city's population distribution is urgent, yet it will be a long process," Zhang added.

The city's family planning authority, however, emphasizes that the new regulations are not intended to "greatly loosen restrictions on second births."

"They are not to encourage more childbearing," said Xia Yi, vice-director of Shanghai Municipal Population and Family Planning Commission. "The one-child policy will remain the basis for the new regulation."

Shanghai's population was estimated at around 17 million at the end of 2003, including 3 million migrant workers who reportedly lived in the city for at least six months.

Immigration has made an exclusive contribution to the city's population growth as the local aging population witnessed negative natural growth for 11 consecutive years, according to the commission.

The city has now set up a population forecasting system to reduce fluctuations in birth rates.

Under the system, the city's family planning commission will provide one to two periodic forecasts every year on local birth rates, which will help local families better plan births and avoid peaks in education and employment.

(Xinhua News Agency April 13, 2004)