A nurse holds a baby born on July 1, 2021 in a hospital in Jiaxing, East China's Zhejiang Province. Photo: CFP

China is going to amend its Population and Family Planning Law to better support its new third-child policy and long-term balanced population growth, according to Chinese media.

The draft amendment to the law is scheduled to be submitted to China's top legislature for deliberation in August, Xinhua News Agency reported on Tuesday.

Chinese authorities announced a reform to the family planning policy on May 31 which allows couples to give birth to three children. To effectively implement the third-child policy, the government should accelerate the development of a system of public childcare services and ease the burden of childbirth, parenting, and education on the people, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said at a teleconference on the optimization of the family planning policy on Tuesday.

Vice Premier, Sun Chunlan, also introduced some details on eventual supporting measures of the third-child policy.

Sun said that the government will accelerate the revision of laws and regulations related to family planning, review and repeal regulations on the social maintenance fee, an administrative charge imposed on couples who have more children than allowed by the previous second-child policy.

The government will promote the standardization of obstetrics and pediatric health care institutions, expand the supply of related resources and improve the quality of services for birth and postpartum care, Sun said.

To development public childcare services, the government could encourage different social forces, including employers, to provide various forms of childcare services, Sun said. By 2025, the number of infants enjoying nursery services will reach 4.5 per 1,000 people, she added. 

The government is going to study and promote the inclusion of childcare expenses for children under the age of three in special additional deductions for individual income taxes, according to Sun.

It will also expand the supply of pre-school education resources for all and promote balanced development of compulsory education in urban and rural areas to reduce the cost of childbirth, rearing and education, Sun said.

The government should also protect the legitimate rights and interests of families and respect women's reproductive values, said Sun. It must strictly implement maternity and lactation leave and protect women's labor and social rights in accordance with the law, she added.