China to end one-child policy and allow two

 China has decided to end its decades-long one-child policy, the state-run Xinhua news agency reports.

Couples will now be allowed to have two children, it said, citing a statement from the Communist Party.

The controversial policy was introduced nationally in 1979, to slow the population growth rate.

It is estimated to have prevented about 400 million births. However concerns at China's ageing population led to pressure for change.

Couples who violated the one-child policy faced a variety of punishments, from fines and the loss of employment to forced abortions.

Over time, the policy has been relaxed in some provinces, as demographers and sociologists raised concerns about rising social costs and falling worker numbers.

Vanguard reported that shares in companies that make nappies, pushchairs and baby milk have been bolstered by China’s decision to scrap its one-child policy. But, for the maker of a popular brand of condoms, it was not the brightest of days.

The economic waves travelled as far afield as New Zealand, where the currency of the dairy exporting country surged.

Analysts at investment bank Credit Suisse estimated that the relaxed controls would result in an extra 3 millions to 6 million babies born annually in the five-year period starting in 2017. China, the world’s most populous country with almost 1.4 billion people, has about 16.5m births each year.