UN official lauds childbirth policy

Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund Babatunde Osotimehin said he hopes the universal two-child policy announced by China last week will lead to the fulfillment of what he characterized as a basic right for all individuals in China to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children.

New family planning rules are not law yet

Local and provincial authorities must continue to abide by China's current family planning policy until a new policy allowing all couples to have two children goes into effect after being ratified by legislators, the National Heath and Family Planning Commission said in an online statement issued on Sunday.

IN BRIEF (Page 4)

Building a future on mutual understanding

Although a mere 2,500 people live in Zhongchuan, a village in Longyan, Xiamen, Fujian province, is proud to be the ancestral home of more than 15,000 overseas Chinese.

Change of perspective

In August, 95 university students from Taiwan visited Shanghai to undertake 28-day internships at a number of well-know local companies, according to a report in People's Daily.

In one sense The Martian is impossible

Blockbuster sci-fi flick The Martian - and the book it's based on - is the product of exhaustive "what-if" research.

This Day, That Year

Item from Nov 2, 1990, in China Daily: Workers at the Nantaipingzhuang vegetable shop in Beijing's Haidian district unload cabbages yesterday, signaling one of the first few days for the vegetable to enter the capital's market in large quantities - and the start of winter.

Hot topic

Many Beijing hospitals are preparing more beds for a baby boom next year, the Year of the Monkey under the traditional Chinese calendar.

On chinadaily.com.cn

Visit for breaking news and exclusive content

Looking ahead

Events and stories coming up in the next few days

GDP growth targeted at 6.5 to 7% through 2020

China is aiming to maintain an average annual GDP growth rate of 6.5 to 7 percent until 2020, without aggressive stimulus or blind expansion of investment, said Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli on Sunday.

Foreign experts' access to visa eased

A simplified procedure for short visits of foreign experts to China took effect on Sunday, according to State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs.