CRI听力:China Considers to Loose Second Child Policy

Currently, one in ten Chinese citizens is 65 or above.

And this proportion is likely to increase to one third by the year of 2050.

Meanwhile, the working population is also aging.

Wang Jun, professor at Sun Yat-Sen University, says this trend would pose a threat to China's economic vitality.

"Migrant workers and others in the working population are also aging, which may affect our country's economic vitality. The situation can be improved to a certain extent by changing the birth policy."

A major policy change at the end of 2013 allowed couples nationwide to have a second baby if either parent is an only child.

Initial estimates suggested two million more babies would be born annually as a result of the change.

However, the actual increase last year was only half a million.

Many parents say they couldn't afford a second baby.

"Now I'm working and my wife takes care of our son. If we have a second child, both of us would have to work and hire a nanny, but we can't afford that."

However, this doesn't necessarily mean most parents are against the loosening of the second child policy.

Experts say it would be better if the government would assess whether the current number of hospitals, schools and other facilities could meet future demand before making the decision.

China introduced its family planning policy to control population growth in the late 1970s.

According to the policy, most urban couples could only have one child, and most rural couples could have two if their first child was a girl.

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.