China's capital city will make fewer couples subject to the fines charged to those who violate China's family planning policy by having a second child, according to the municipal commission of population and family planning.

Infants younger than six months old take part in a swimming contest in Beijing on Sept 12, 2010. [Photo: China Daily]

Under the new guidelines, Beijing couples that are composed of two only children and that give birth to a second child will be charged fines only if the mother is younger than 28 and the second child is born within four years after the first.

In the past, such couples had to pay a fifth of their annual income if they had a second child either when the mother was younger than 28 or did not wait at least four years after the birth of the first child.

Not all couples, though, will be exempted from the policy. Those in which one partner has a sibling -- or both partners do -- will still be discouraged from having a second child.

The change comes amid wide speculation that China is planning to relax its family planning policy. But some believe it will fail to satisfy the public's hopes.

Mu Guangzong, a professor of population research at Peking University, said the relaxed rules in Beijing are an improvement over the previous policy, but are not enough to help right China's population imbalances and raise fertility rates.

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