国内英语新闻:Premier encourages population policy reform

BEIJING, Feb. 27 (Xinhua) -- Premier Li Keqiang on Thursday urged prudent adjustment of China's family planning policy to ensure a balanced population.

Adjustment of population policy complies with the people's will and relates to economic and social development, and various authorities must promote the cause while insisting on the basic state policy in this area, according to Li.

China reformed its "one-child" policy in November, allowing couples to have two children if one of them is an only child. The one-child policy had long limited most couples to only one child in order to control population growth.

Responding to Li's remarks, Vice Premier Liu Yandong on Thursday asked local authorities to scientifically implement the adjusted policy.

She said that excessive population growth has been effectively controlled due to China's family planning in the past four decades, which helps relieve the pressure on the environment and resources and enhance the people's living standards.

The vice premier also stressed that possible "risks" in the policy implementation must be controlled and the total population must be restrained as scheduled.