China announces three-child limit in major policy shift

Move follows data showing sharp decline in number of births in world's most populous country

China has announced that couples will be permitted to have up to three children in a major policy shift from the existing two-child limit, after recent data showed a dramatic decline in births in the world's most populous country.

To actively respond to the ageing of the population ... a couple can have three children," state media Xinhua reported on Monday, citing a meeting of China's elite politburo leadership committee hosted by President Xi Jinping.