Move for bigger families gets support

Many members of the public have expressed support for Beijing to take the national lead in easing the three-decade-old family planning policy, by allowing families to have a second child, even as officials could not confirm such a move.

Once passed by the local legislature, the proposed adjustment to the family planning policy that experts have called historical would allow Beijing couples, with one party being the single child, to have a second child, the Beijing News reported yesterday.

"Couples should have the right to decide their family size," Peng Yuhua, deputy director of Beijing Population and Family Planning Commission, was quoted as saying.