Beijing will not ease restrictions on the birth of a second
child for people with higher educational qualifications, a local
family planning official has said.
Li Yunli, deputy head of the Beijing Municipal Population and
Family Planning Committee, said the current family planning policy
would not change.
Personal quality is a complicated issue and certainly not
guaranteed by high educational attainment, Li was quoted as saying
by the Beijing Times.
Li said urban residents enjoy much better social security
policies than their rural peers. In turn, rural residents receive
preferential treatment in regard to a second child.
China's family planning policy encourages couples, apart from
those from minority ethnic groups, to have only one child to
restrain population expansion. Couples that meet certain conditions
can have a second child.
The central authorities have delegated policy-making powers on
the issue to local governments.
Beijing's population and family planning policy allows couples
who were themselves only sons or only daughters to have a second
child.
Li said that she hoped all of these "only child" couples would
have a second child which would help solve labor shortages and deal
with challenges represented by the aging population.
Beijing's senior population aged 60 and over reached 1.97
million at the end of 2004, making up 13 percent of the city
population. The senior population is estimated to rise to 6.5
million by 2050, or 30 percent of the city's total population.
According to the 11th five-year plan (2006-2010) on aging,
China's senior population will top 174 million by 2010, accounting
for 12.78 percent of the country's total population, compared with
143 million at present.
China cannot rely on the birth of more children to solve aging
population issues, said Yu Xuejun, an official with the State
Population and Family Planning Commission.
The best solutions are to boost economic development and build
an effective social security system, especially in rural areas, Yu
said.
(Xinhua News Agency September 29, 2006)