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Chapter 3 Fertility Regulation

Article 18 Fertility behaviors shall be conducted in a planned manner with out-of-plan births prohibited. One couple is encouraged to have only one child. Families of an ethnic origin are also encouraged to practice family planning.

Article 19 Couples are encouraged to defer marriage and childbearing. Deferred marriage refers to first marriage in which the couples are three years older than their respective legal ages for marriage and deferred childbearing refers to first childbirth given by women of deferred age for marriage.

Article 20 Couples who meet any one of the following conditions, subject to application and approval, can have a second birth:

1. The first child is diagnosed of having non-genetic diseases and unable to grow up to be a normal laborer;

2. Both parties are only child in the family;

3. Remarried couples with one party having a child from the previous marriage and the other having none.

4. Couples who have been married for years but have no child of their own and who become pregnant after having adopted a child legally;

5. Rural couples with the husband living with his parents-in-law;

6. Rural couples with one party being the only child of a martyr;

7. Rural couples with one party being a veteran soldier with second-class first-degree and above disability;

8. Rural couples with one party having disability of second-class first-degree and above as a result of duty-related injury;

9. Rural couples with the husband being the only male child who is fertile in the family;

10. Rural couples with one party being the only child of a family with only one child for two generations;

11. Rural remarried couples with one party being widowed and having two children at most and the other having none;

12. One-daughter families in mountainous areas designated by the municipal government and only-child families in remote mountainous areas.

Couples who meet the conditions of Article 20 shall have an interval of four years before applying to have another child.

In this article, having no child refers to having given no birth, having adopted no child or having given birth but the child has deceased.

Article 21 Returned overseas Chinese or compatriots from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan who have settled down in the city or couples with either party being a compatriot from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan or returned overseas Chinese or foreigner shall be treated in accordance with relevant regulations on fertility.

Article 22 The following situations shall be handled in accordance with relevant regulations:

1. Couples who have abandoned their child or have their child adopted by other people are not allowed to have another child;

2. Couples who used to be eligible for having another birth at their hometown but don't meet the requirements at the current place of residence because of change of household registration, shall follow the policy of the current place of residence except for those who have already become pregnant;

3. If a woman doesn't live where her hukou is registered, she shall follow the stricter policy of the two places;

4. Rural residents who are employed by government agencies, institutions or township enterprises as a contract worker shall follow the urban policy.

Article 23 According to Clause 2 of Article 18, married women who give birth to her first child shall, within four months after becoming pregnant, apply to the family planning authorities at township/town government or neighborhood committee of her hometown or workplace for a birth permit.

Article 24 Applications of couples who meet the conditions of Articles 20 and 21 to have another child shall be examined by the family planning authorities at township/town government or neighborhood committee of the wife's hometown or workplace, and get approval from the prefectural/county/city family planning authorities. The family planning authorities at township/town government or neighborhood committee shall verify and submit, within three months of receipt, the application and the prefectural/county/city family planning authorities shall, within two months of receipt of the application, make a decision and notify the applicants in a written form. A birth permit shall be granted to the applicants if approved. Failure to notify the applicants in a written format of the decision within the designated time period shall be deemed as approval and a birth permit shall be issued to the applicants within 30 days. In ethnic-inhabited regions, couples who apply to have a second birth shall pay a certain amount of fertility fee subject to approval by the Chongqing municipal government. The fee shall be collected by the finance authorities at a unified rate and shall be used for family planning purposes.

Article 25 Births that fall into any one of the following categories shall be considered out-of-plan births:

1. Premarital births;

2. The child is born with a fraudulent birth permit;

3. Second or above births without a birth permit.

Adoption of a child against the law is considered out-of-plan birth.

Out-of-plan pregnancies without a pregnancy termination certificate issued by medical institutions or family planning service institutions shall be regarded as out-of-plan births.