Not everyone in China is unprepared for Beijing’s three-child policy change, meet those planning for more babies

China has relaxed its family planning rules, allowing families to have up to three children

It follows an earlier relaxation of the rules that saw Beijing abandon the notorious one-child policy in 2015

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Despite many in China saying an increase in the number of children allowed per family won’t encourage them to have more kids, others are excited at the policy change. Photo: Getty Images

Published: 1:00pm, 5 Jun 2021Updated: 8:57am, 7 Jun 2021

Li Fangfang is waiting for a court verdict and an apology.

The 33-year-old woman from Hangzhou, in east China’s Zhejiang province, was fired from her government office job in 2020 for having a third child, breaking Chinese government policy at that time, despite being repeatedly warned by her supervisors.

Six months later China has issued a major policy shift allowing couples to have up to three children, scrapping a two-child limit, hoping to tackle the issue of an ageing population.

Li has taken her former employer to court previously and is awaiting a verdict. With the new three-child policy, she and her lawyer believe the outcome will now be different. She has refused to settle.

“I wanted to prove what’s right and what’s wrong, and for my dignity,” Li told her lawyer, in a chat history seen by the South China Morning Post.

Following the government’s announcement, the Chinese public flooded social media mocking the policy shift, declaring they are unprepared to have children due to the financial costs and other pressures in China’s fast-paced society and work culture.