China abandons one-child family policy

China has abandoned its one-child policy for families.

Families will now be able to have two children, the country's ruling Communist party said.

ITV News China Correspondent Lucy Watson reports:

The rules are a major liberalisation of the country's restrictions, which have been in place since 1979.

Here's what we know.

• Why did China introduce the one-child policy?

The controversial policy was enforced to reduce the country's birth rate to slow the rapid growth of population.

China's population was increasing by around 1.9% each year in the 1950s after people were encouraged to have children to increase the workforce.

But by 1979, the government realised this was unsustainable and established the one-child policy.

• Impact of the one-child policy

The Chinese government has hailed the policy as a success preventing an additional 400 million births.

But the population remains high at 1.3 billion.

Human rights campaigners have criticised the scheme as unethical, saying women have been forced to have abortions and undergo sterilisation procedures.

Evidence has also emerged of sex-selective abortions and infanticide of girls which has led to 121 boys being born to every 100 girls in China.

Bioethicist George Dvorsky said that men outnumbered women by 32 million in China in 2012 leading to fewer marriages.

• Why has the policy been lifted now?

China's ageing population - which potentially threatens to affect the growth of the world's second biggest economy - has forced the regime to change tact.

Although the policy was relaxed in 2013 for couples who were both single children or if their first child was a girl, it fell short of the expected boost to the birthrate as young couples cited high living costs as a reason to stick to having just one child.