China considers relaxing its family planning policy

China is deciding whether to further relax its one-child policy by allowing couples in which only one parent is an only child to have two children. Currently, only couples in which both parents are only children are allowed to have two children, China's Xinhua news agency reported Friday. Mao Qun'an, spokesman for the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said that while China plans on following a state policy of family planning for a long period of time, the commission is looking for ways to improve the policy. To improve family planning policies, which were first introduced in the 1970s, China must maintain the current low birth rate, while taking into account the public's needs, social and economic development, and changes in the population structure, Mao said. The policy was last relaxed in 2007, when couples from single-child homes were allowed to have two children.