China's Universal Two-Child Policy: Grounds, Effects and Strategies

The 13th Five-Year Plan period is crucial for China,in which macro population problem is the core element.Population aging and low fertility leading to reduction in labor supply would have a fundamental infl uence on the long term balanced development of China’s population,implying that China’s population policy must be adjusted.This paper argues that birth policy adjustment accords with the original intention of the population policy design and development direction.A universal two-child policy is a logical result of the adjustment of China’s current fertility policy,which is believed to bring about positive effects on the future demographic and economic development.particularly in sustaining long term balanced development of China’s population,eliminating marriage squeeze,lengthening demographic dividend and delaying aging process.China needs to develop and improve support and governance system for fully implementing the universal two-child policy.