Three-child policy

The three-child policy (Chinese: 三孩政策; pinyin: Sānhái Zhèngcè), whereby a couple can have three children, is a family planning policy in the People's Republic of China. The policy was announced on 31 May 2021 at a meeting of the Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), chaired by CCP General Secretary, Xi Jinping, on population aging. In July 2023, the government announced the abolishment of all fines and fees associated with having more children, effectively removing government limits on the number of children a family can have.

The announcement came after the release of the results of the Seventh National Population Census, which showed that the number of births in mainland China in 2020 was only 12 million, the lowest number of births since 1960, and the further aging of the population, against which the policy was born. This was the slowest population growth rate China experienced. The state-owned Chinese news agency, Xinhua, stated that this policy would be accompanied by supportive measures to maintain China's advantage in human labor. However, some Chinese citizens expressed dissatisfaction with the policy, as they would be unable to raise children due to the high cost of living in China relative to the income.

The policy was adopted by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party and State Council of the People's Republic of China in June 2021 and announced in July. In August the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress amended the family planning law cancelling restrictive measures including fines for couples having more children than permitted.