35 years after the introduction of its one-child policy, China has decided to scrap its controversial law in a move which has been lauded by the wider public.

Initially introduced as a response to fears regarding over population, the policy has been slammed continously over the years, with Liang Zhongtang, a demographer from the Shanghai Academy of Social Science, insisting, as recently as July, that that the policy should have been abolished a long time ago.

Commenting on the law which severely limited a couple's freedom of choice, Liang continued: "The core issue is not about one child or two children. It’s about reproductive freedom. It’s about basic human rights."

The introduction of the new policy, which now allows couples in China to bear two infants, will give millions of children the opportunity to enjoy the experience of being part of a larger family should a couple choose to welcome a fourth member.

The change in policy will be welcome news to Chinese bioethicist Jing-Bao Nie, who recently slammed the policy, which was introduced in 1980, in an article for the Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics.

"The greatest irony of all is that, while originally designed to improve living standards and help relieve poverty and underdevelopment, the one-child policy has inflicted massive suffering and state-directed violence on Chinese people, especially women," he stated.

Outlining the implications of the old policy, he continued: "[It has] grave negative impacts on women undergoing reproductive interventions, including the side effects of contraceptive use, mental and physical problems caused by the uninformed selection of contraceptive methods, conflict between a couple’s wishes and the state’s population goals, and the permanent distress entailed in the failure to produce a male child."

The change in policy has been decided by China's ruling Communist Party.

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