Most Chinese provinces relax one-child policy

Twenty-nine of 31 provincial regions in the Chinese mainland have relaxed the decades-old one-child policy, a senior family planning official Thursday said.

The change in policy will allow couples to have a second baby if either parent is an only child, Xinhua reported.

East China's Zhejiang Province took the lead to green-light the relaxed policy Jan 17 this year, while Xinjiang and Tibet have not made the move yet, said Yang Wenzhuang, an official with the National Health and Family Planning Commission, at a press conference.

As of the end of May this year, about 271,600 couples have applied to give birth to a second child, with 241,300 of the applications having been approved, Yang said.

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