China: Two-child policy planned to tackle greying population

China is soon to ease its decades long one-child policy due to looming demographic concerns.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission will possibly roll out a two-child policy by the end of the year, according to a researcher, reported the South China Morning Post.

The move comes after what is believed to be a greying population with a growing proportion of elderly and a decline in the labour force.

According to reports, the number of people aged 60 and above went up from 13.3% in 2010 to 15.5% in 2014.

"Changing the policy sooner will allow more women to have a second child. But judging from the situation after China eased the one-child policy two years ago, there will not be an overwhelming number of extra births," said Professor Ren Yuan, a demographer at Fudan University.

The disappointment comes as the fertility rate is at 1.4, which is believed to be far below the 2.1 figure that is required to ensure a steady population growth.

Strict family planning rules were imposed by the ruling Communist Party in the late 1970s to limit population growth in China with most couples being forced to have only one child.

While the strict rules sparked major criticism, officials had previously argued the laws were a major factor in China's rising prosperity.

Officials had declared the family planning laws as being a "fundamental national strategy" that cannot be "shaken".

In late 2013, couples where at least one parent was an only child were allowed to have two children, however the changes failed to boost the country's birth rate.