China hints that it will soon end its two-child policy

After decades of strict laws on procreation, China looks set to allow couples free reign over how many children they have.

Rule makers in China are debating a draft civil code that has had all references to family planning removed, according to a social media post by state media Procuratorate Daily. This hints that the country's two-child policy could soon finally be lifted. It's not clear whether this might mean a new limit on how many kids a family can have or whether the limit will be scrapped altogether. The laws on family size were enforced by fines but also encouraged a culture of forced abortions, sterilisations and even infanticide. From 1979, couples in China were barred from having more than one child in a bid to control population growth. The rule was relaxed in 2016 to allow couples in urban areas to have two children. The change came in response to fears that China's ageing population and workforce could impact on its economy. There have also been concerns that family planning laws have caused a gender imbalance in the country. The move might have been too little, too late, though - the birth rate hasn't changed to the extent that the state had been hoping since 2016.