Shanghai has adjusted its population and birth control policy, giving residents more freedom to control their reproductive activities, the Shanghai Municipal Population and Birth Control Committee has announced.

The revised Shanghai Municipal Population and Birth Control Statute will come into effect on April 15.

The former statute allowed couples, who were both only children themselves or whose first child was disabled due to non-genetic reasons, to have a second child four years after the first was born.

The four-year time gap has been removed in the revised statute and qualified couples are allowed to have a second child according to their own schedule.

Under the revised policy, women who give birth to their first legitimate child over the age of 24 can enjoy a 30-day late childbirth vacation.

If an only child is disabled or dies before the age of 16 and his or her parents are unwilling to adopt or have a second child, they will receive a government birth control subsidy.

(Xinhua News Agency January 25, 2004)