Population and Family Planning Law of the Peoples Republic of China

The Population and Family Planning Law of the Peoples Republic of China was enacted in 2002 to give a formal statutory basis to a population policy that had previously been carried out mainly through administrative regulation rather than national legislation. The law set out state authority to regulate childbirth, including the promotion of later marriage and childbearing and the encouragement of one child per couple as the general rule, while allowing exceptions set by local regulation. It also addressed related matters such as reproductive health services and the legal treatment of family planning within Chinese administrative practice. The law was later amended as national policy shifted, first to permit two children and then further, reflecting changes in Chinese demographic policy since the laws original enactment.