In spite of the popular impression that the government is loosening its grip on population growth, the State Family Planning and Population Commission (SFPPC), denies changes in national family planning policies.

The prudent choice of words belies a misperception that family planning is no longer relevant.

The latest official wording is to "stabilize population policies", instead of changing them. So if there are differences between present and past practices, let us call them modifications, if not changes.

Despite all the complaints and finger-pointing, the family planning initiative has greatly eased the burden of overpopulation on this developing country. That is a tremendous relief to the world, too.

There were plenty of unhappy incidents in local authorities' execution of such policies. But most people would agree that the world's largest population is a drag on the nation's pursuit of prosperity. The load would have been much heavier were it not for the family planning policies inaugurated in the early 1970s.

We agree with the SFPPC that the country's family planning strategy has never been a blanket "one-child policy". It has allowed too many exceptions to be addressed that way.

The authorities have kept a very low profile about the longstanding special favors to rural households and ethnic minorities. But according to SFPPC statistics, only 35.9 percent of our population is subject to the so-called "one-child" rule. A fact not known to many citizens.

The SFPPC spokesman made an even more astonishing revelation on Tuesday that "between 30 and 40 percent" of Chinese citizens are now permitted to have more than two children, and, with only one exception, all the country's provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions now allow couples from single-child families to have a second child.

The new pattern of policymaking displays more sensibilities by incorporating such factors as ethnic and regional differences, as well as practical human needs. This entails a better balance between communal needs and individual rights.

As the SFPPC stated, the country cannot afford to forsake family planning for the time being. But we need to refine the way policies are made and implemented.

(China Daily July 12, 2007)