BEIJING, Ohio — China’s ruling Communist Party says it will ease birth limits to allow all couples to have three children instead of two in hopes of slowing the rapid aging of its population, which is adding to strains on the economy and society.
The ruling party has enforced birth limits since 1980 to restrain population growth but worries the number of working age people is falling too fast.
That threatens to disrupt its ambitions to transform China into a prosperous consumer society and global technology leader.
Restrictions that limited most couples to one child were eased in 2015 to allow two, but the number of births fell, suggesting changes in the rules on their own have had little impact on the trend.
