China's Communist Party said the country's one-child policy would be eased in the first significant adjustment in nearly three decades. Key events in the history of China's family planning policy:
1953: Chinese leaders suggest that the population should be controlled and approve a law on contraception and abortion, but the plan is stranded by political upheaval and the 1959-1961 famine.
1970: Chinese population exceeds 800 million.
1975: China adopts the slogan "Late, Long and Few" and encourages couples to have one child and urges them to have no more than two.
1980: The Communist Party says every couple should have only one child. A new marriage law says couples are obligated to practice family planning, placing a de facto limit of one child for each family.