No timetable to completely lift one-child policy: China

China today said there is no specific timetable for fundamental reforms in its controversial one-child policy, a move which will allow couples to have a second child in the world's most populous nation.

The government will closely monitor the demographic situation and improve the family planning policy based on the changes, Li Bin, chief of the National Health and Family Planning Commission said.

Li confirmed that eight provinces have given green light to the policy allowing families to have two children if one of the parents was an only child.

Last December, China's legislature, National People's Congress, adopted the policy and entrusted provincial congresses and their standing committees to make their own calls on implementation.

To facilitate implementation, health departments will improve infrastructure, such as maternity and paediatric hospitals, and simplify the procedures, Li said.

However, the basic family planning principle has not changed as the country is still the world's most populous, state-run Xinhua news agency quoted Li as saying.

Family planning is written in the communist nation's constitution as an essential state strategy and any adjustment requires a resolution by the top legislature.

The move to ease the policy followed steadily declining birth rates and changing demographics that reduce the working population. China's total population stand at 1.351 billion as of 2012.