China To End One-Child Policy, Allowing Couples Two Children

China’s Communist Party brought to an end the decades-old “one-child” policy on Thursday, when leaders announced that all married couples would be allowed to have two children in a bid to reverse the rapid aging of the labor force.

The announcement came after the party’s Central Committee concluded a four-day meeting in a heavily guarded hotel in western Beijing where the committee approved proposals for China’s next five-year development plan, which starts next year.

The Chinese limit of one child for most families, which was enacted in 1979 to slow population growth, has led to criticism in the past.