DHAKA: China`s top legislature has formally adopted a resolution easing the country`s one-child policy, the state news agency Xinhua reports.

The Standing Committee of the National People`s Congress passed a resolution allowing couples to have two children if either parent is an only child.

A proposal to abolish re-education through labour camps was also approved.

The changes in policy were announced following a meeting of top Communist Party officials in November.

The reforms, which came at the end of a six-day meeting of the congress, have already been tested in parts of the country.

They needed formal legislative approval to be put into effect.

China introduced its one-child policy at the end of the 1970s to curb rapid population growth.

But correspondents say the policy has become increasingly unpopular and that leaders fear the country`s ageing population will both reduce the labour pool and exacerbate elderly care issues.

By 2050, more than a quarter of the population will be over 65.

The one-child policy has on the whole been strictly enforced, though some exceptions already exist, including for ethnic minorities.

BDST: 0905 HRS, DEC 28, 2013
RS