China Amends Decades-Old One Child Policy as U.S. Calls For Complete End to Birthing Regulations

In response to its aging population, China announced this week that it will be relaxing its strict one child policy, allowing for two children for each family but still calling on an abortion for a third child.

China's Communist Party announced the change in the decades-old policy this week while speaking from a Central Committee meeting.

"The change of policy is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population," government leaders said, as reported by the Xinhua media outlet .

While the White House called China's move a "positive step," but it said it looks forward to China doing away with birthing regulations all together.

Blind Chinese activist Chen Guangcheng told CNN in a recent interview that "One child or two children -- the Communist Party has no rights to decide how many children people want to have."

"From the central government all the way to the village level, do you know how many family planning officials the system employs?" Chen asking, adding "They reap huge economic benefits from the brutal enforcement of this or any policy."

"Too much entrenched interest -- that's why the party won't scrap the entire family planning system," Chen added.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said during a White House press briefing that the U.S. "also [looks] forward to the day when birth limits are abandoned altogether."

"The United States in our work around the world continues to oppose coercive birth limitation policies, including things liked forced abortion and sterilization," Earnest added.