BEIJING (AFP)-China officially ended its one-child policy on Sunday (Dec 27) with the signing into law of a Bill allowing all married couples to have a second child as it attempts to cope with an ageing population and shrinking workforce。

法新社北京12月27日消息：周日，中国取消独生子女政策的法案正式通过，允许已婚夫妻生育第二个孩子，以应对人口老龄化和劳动力短缺。

The change， which was announced in October by the ruling Communist Party， takes effect from Jan 1， the Xinhua news agency reported。

据新华社报道，这一转变在今年10月份由执政的共产党提出，并于来年1月1日生效。

All married couples will be allowed to have a second child， but the legislation maintains limits on additional births。

所有已婚夫妻都将允许生育第二胎，但该法案仍然限制二胎之外的计划外生育。

The “one-child policy”， instituted in the late 1970s， restricted most couples to only a single offspring and for years authorities argued that it was a key contributor to China’s economic boom and had prevented 400 million births。

独生子女政策在上世纪70年代开始推行，限制大多数夫妻只能生育一胎，多年来政府宣称这一政策是中国经济繁荣发展的关键，并减少了4亿新增人口。

It has been enforced by a dedicated national commission with a system of fines for violators and often forced abortions， leading to heartrending tales of loss for would-be parents。

该政策由专门的委员会执行，并对违反者采取罚款制度和强制堕胎，导致许多准父母悲惨的境遇。

The policy led to sex-selective abortions or infanticide targeting girls， because of a centuries-old social preference for boys。

这一政策还导致了选择性堕胎和杀女婴行为，这源于千百年来重男轻女的社会形态。

Rural families were already allowed two children if the first was a girl， while ethnic minorities were allowed an extra offspring， leading some to dub it a “one-and-a-half child” policy。

在农村的家庭中，已经允许头胎是女孩的情况下生育第二胎，少数民族也允许计划外生育，一些人称之为“半计划生育”政策。

As a result China’s population - the world’s largest at 1.37 billion - is now ageing rapidly， gender imbalances are severe， and its workforce is shrinking。

中国拥有13.7亿人口，居世界首位，由于人口老龄化开始加速，导致性别严重失衡，劳动力也在萎缩。

These concerns led to limited reforms in 2013， including allowing couples to have two children if either of them was an only child， but relatively few have taken up the opportunity due to limited income and higher perceived opportunity costs。

这些因素导致2013年进行了一些有限的改革，其中允许均为独生子女的夫妻生育二胎，但由于有限的收入和过高预期的机会成本，只有少数人借此机会进行生育。

Experts say that the shift to a two-child policy is likely too little， too late to address China’s looming population crisis and that the government is unlikely to dismantle enforcement mechanisms for reproductive control due to deeply entrenched bureaucratic interests。

专家称，二胎政策的转变对于解决中国迫在眉睫的人口危机来说，可能太微小也太迟了，由于根深蒂固的官僚利益，政府不愿意废除对于生育控制的强制机制。