Twins excepted from change to birth policy

The National Health and Family Planning Commission confirmed to the Beijing Morning Post Tuesday that a new national policy, which allows couples to have two children if one of the parents is a single child, will not apply to families with twins or children from a multiple birth.

The loosening of the family planning policy was disclosed on Friday in a plan released by the Communist Party of China Central Committee, which states that only one parent would need to be a single child in order to have two offspring, instead of the previous requirement that both parents be single children.

Zhai Zhenwu, dean of the School of Sociology and Population at the Beijing-based Renmin University of China was quoted as saying by The Beijing News on Saturday that the new policy will affect 15 to 20 million of couples of child-bearing age, which have already had one child, and one parent is also a single child.

Over a half of these couples eligible for a second child are willing to give birth to a second child, among which a large majority are from urban areas, Zhai told China Central Television, adding that they are more likely to be affected by the policy than rural residents according to recent research into couples and fertility conducted by the commission.

Wang Pei'an, deputy director of the commission, said on Saturday that the commission will not set a timetable for implementation by local governments.

"Different places will implement the policy at different paces according to individual situations, but they should not delay the launch too long," said Wang.

An official with a township family planning office in Beijing said on Wednesday that they had not received any notification about the implementation of the new policy, but some villagers who want to have a second child had already asked them for details.

"The villagers have to wait for the release of the new regulations, otherwise they will be punished for violating the current regulation," he said.