China's two-child policy promises baby boost - not boom, experts say
Relaxation of one-child policy may result in only 2.1 million additional births a year - still not enough to offset greying population
Beijing's decision to end the one-child policy is unlikely to offset the nation's rapidly greying population - at least not for several decades, experts say.
The 13th five-year plan, governing policies for 2016 to 2020, was endorsed by the Communist Party's Central Committee as it wrapped up its four-day plenum yesterday.
According to the blueprint, families will be able to have two children, loosening the existing policy where a couple can have a second child only if at least one spouse was an only child.
The brief announcement from Xinhua gave no details, including when the change would take effect. The five-year plan is expected to go before the legislature in March.
READ MORE: China to abandon three-decade-old one-child policy
The shift in the decades-old family-planning policy has been widely expected by economists. China began easing restrictions in 2013 to try to offset the rapid greying of its population, which is predicted to hurt the nation's economic competitiveness.