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Chapter 2 Deferred Marriage and Childbearing and Birth Control

Article 9 Citizens of marriageable age are encouraged to practice deferred marriage and childbearing. First marriage between men and women three years past their respective legal age for marriage is considered deferred marriage and first childbirth by women at the age of 24 and over is considered deferred childbearing.

Article 10 Married couples shall have childbirth in a planned manner. One couple is encouraged to have only one child. Extramarital birth is prohibited. Those who send their child for adoption are not allowed to have more.

Article 11 Couples who meet any one of the following conditions, subject to application and approval, can have a second birth:

1. The first child has non-genetic defects and is unable to grow up to be a normal laborer;

2. Both parties are only child in the family;

3. Rural couples with the husband married into a family with only a female child;

4. Rural couples with either party being the only child of a martyr;

5. Rural couples with either party being a veteran soldier with disability of second-class first-degree and above;

6. Rural couples with either party having disability as a result of workplace accident, which is equivalent to a veteran soldier with disability of second-class first-degree and above;

7. Rural couples with none of the husband's brothers having reproductivity;

8. Rural couples with either party being the only child of a family with only one child for two or more generations;

9. One-daughter rural households short of labor force who live in mountainous counties around the basin or mountainous townships designated by city/prefectural government in the basin (excluding those living in reservoir, hilly and valley areas);

10. Only-child rural households living in remote mountainous areas with high altitude around the basin.

Article 12 Couples who are married for years without a child with the wife becoming pregnant after having adopted a child in accordance with the Adoption Law of the People's Republic of China, subject to application, can have a child of their own.

Article 13 Couples who meet any one of the following conditions, subject to application and approval, can have a second birth:

1. Remarried couples with one party being widowed with no more than two children and the other having none;

2. Remarried couples with one party having a child from a previous marriage and the other having none. Having no child in this article refers to no childbirth, no adoption and no living children.

Article 14 Fertility applications of returned overseas Chinese and Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan residents who live permanently in Sichuan, or couples with one party being residents of Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, returned overseas Chinese or foreigners, shall be handled in accordance with relevant national regulations.

Article 15 Couples who meet the condition of Clause 1 of Article 11 and who apply to have another birth, shall present a medical certificate issued by the family planning technical service institutions above county/city/prefecture level. Identification certificates issued by any other organizations and individuals than the above-mentioned institutions cannot be accepted.

Article 16 Couples who want to have a first birth shall apply to their respective employer or villagers' or residents' committee and get a birth permit from the family planning department under the government or neighborhood committee at the locality where the woman's work unit is located or permanent residence is registered. Those who meet the conditions and apply for a second birth shall have their application examined by the town/township government or neighborhood committee at the locality where the woman's work unit is located or permanent residence is registered and get approval from the county-level family planning authorities. The family planning authorities at county level shall, within five months of receipt of the application, issue a written notice informing the applicants of the results. If approved, a birth permit shall be issued to the applicants. No written notice within the designated time period shall be taken as approval. Relevant personnel at the family planning authorities shall be held responsible for out-of-plan births arising from the delay. Couples who meet the conditions of Articles 11 and 13 and who want to have a second birth, shall have an interval of four years. Employer or the villagers' or residents' committee shall publish the list of women who have got approval for a second birth.