Chinese told: Have a third child

China is to allow couples to legally have a third child as it seeks to hold off a demographic crisis that could threaten its hopes of increased prosperity and its global influence.

It comes six years after the last change. The rules were eased in 2015 to allow two children as officials acknowledged the looming consequences of a plummeting birth rate, amid a fear that China will grow old before it becomes wealthy.

From the 1980s, China strictly limited most couples to one child, a policy enforced with threats of fines or loss of jobs, leading to abuses, such as forced abortions.

A preference for sons led parents to kill baby girls, leading to a massive imbalance in the sex ratio.