GUANGZHOU: Single-child families here in the capital of Guangdong Province are being encouraged to have a second child, in a move seen as a relaxation of the country's "one child" policy.

The Guangzhou commission of population development and family planning said it was seeking ways to tackle the problems caused by the city's aging population.

By 2010, Guangzhou will be home to more than 1 million people aged 60 or over, the commission has estimated. But its homes for the elderly will be able to accommodate only 40,000.

There are currently some 945,000 people aged 60 and above, accounting for almost 13 percent of Guangzhou's total population.

The figure is much higher than the average across the country, a source from the commission said.

And the aging population is set to keep growing at an annual rate of about 4 percent, the source said, reaching 2.3 million in 2035.

The city government is currently working on a wide range of new policies to cater to its elderly population, including a medical insurance program.

According to the city's 11th five-year development plan for population, employment and social security, by 2010, Guangzhou will have a population of more than 10.9 million, whose average life span will be 78, the commission said.

While the new policy would allow couples to have a second child, not all young people want a larger family.

Cui Lanfang, a white-collar worker, said she would not have a second child because she had a bad experience with her first.

Both Cui, 32, and her husband, who are the parents of a two-year-old daughter, are only children.

According to recent studies, less than 10 percent of young married couples in Guangzhou have no children, with a majority having a single child.

(China Daily 07/05/2007 page5)