Xi extends festive greetings to children

Chinese President Xi Jinping has extended festive greetings to children across China ahead of International Children's Day, which falls on June 1.

When writing back to primary school students in Jiangsu Province, the president calls on them to learn the history of the Communist Party of China and have a firm faith to follow the Party from a young age.

China to support couples having third child

China says it will support couples that wish to have a third child.

A Party meeting chaired by General Secretary Xi Jinping has heard reports on major policy measures to actively address the ageing of population during the 14th Five-Year Plan period.

It's agreed that implementing the policy and its relevant supporting measures will help improve China's population structure, actively respond to the aging population, and preserve the country's human resource advantages.

Efforts are being urged to improve prenatal and postnatal care services, develop a universal childcare services system and reduce family spending on education.

Review of China's child policy

Let's take a review of China's child policy with Ge Anna.

China's family planning policy was introduced in the late 1970s to slow down population growth by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two children if their first child is a girl.

The policy was relaxed in 2011 to have a better population structure and it stipulated that both parents should be an only child if they plan to have a second child.

China further eased its one-child policy in late 2013 by allowing couples nationwide to have two children if one of the parents was an only child.

The country finally ended its decades' long one-child policy in 2016, when all couples were permitted to have two children.

China saw a spike in births a year after the two-child policy was enacted. However, there was a decline over the next three years.

People's opinions on third-child policy

Some Chinese citizens have shared their opinions about having a third child.

Mr. Lu is a father of two children. He looks forward to more supportive measures.

"For a third child, first I think the mother will be older, so measures for maternity leave and subsidies should be improved. Most parents are also concerned about education. If there are more measures helping with education, I think people will start to have a third child."

Cao Ximeng already has a child. She suggests aspects like senior care should also be taken into account.

"Apart from supporting policies for a third child, I think it is more than just education or other issues about raising children. Other aspects like senior care, healthcare, and housing will also contribute to a higher cost of having a child."

Meanwhile, Vice-president Du Peng of the Renmin University of China says the policy and all the supporting measures aim to build a more family-friendly society.

"The supporting measure will play a positive role in bringing up fertility desires among couples. Under these policies, society will be more friendly towards families. Education will be more equal. These could all ease people's anxiety in having children."

China's latest national census found that over 18 percent of the country's population is above 60 years old now, five percentage points higher than the level in 2010.

Main construction in Baihetan Hydropower Station completed

Construction of the main structure of China's Baihetan Hydropower Station has been completed.

With a total installed capacity of 16 million kilowatts, it's the world's second largest only after the Three Gorges Dam.

It's expected to generate more than 62 billion kilowatt-hours of electricity per year, which would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by over 51 million tonnes.

Improving Electoral System Ordinance in Hong Kong comes into effect

The Improving Electoral System Ordinance 2021 has come into effect in Hong Kong after it was officially published in the Gazette.

Officials say the government will properly organize and conduct the upcoming Election Committee Subsector Elections, the Legislative Council General Election and the Chief Executive Election in accordance with the relevant amended electoral legislation.