Confusion reigned yesterday over the possibility of Beijing changing the one-child policy when a family planning official's reported comments were quickly contradicted by the agency for which he works.
The Beijing News quoted Peng Yuhua, vice-director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Population and Family Planning, in a report yesterday as saying the commission was assessing the possibility of allowing couples to have a second child if one of the spouses was a single child. The report also said the commission was considering abolishing the four-year waiting period between the first and second births currently required of couples eligible to have a second child.
Late in the afternoon, Xinhua released a report quoting an unnamed cadre from the same commission as saying that The Beijing News' article was 'inaccurate' and that the relevant reporter had apologised to Peng.
'Birth-planning is a fundamental policy,' said an unnamed source interviewed by Xinhua. 'The birth-planning policy requires stability and continuity. I hope that everyone will continue ... to support the population and family planning department to do well in its work.'
Under current regulations, couples under various circumstances are exempted from the one-child policy and entitled to have more than one child. Examples include if both were single children, or hold doctorates, or are from an ethnic minority group, or disabled, or rural residents whose first child was a girl. The circumstances differ between provinces.
While 30 provinces, regions and municipalities are already implementing the 'both-parents-are-single-child' exception, only 11 provinces are implementing a less restricted version of the 'one-parent-is-a-single-child' exception - if one spouse of a rural couple is a single child, they may have two children.