China: One-Child Policy To Change 'Incrementally'

China tried to end speculation over the future of its controversial one-child policy yesterday by saying that it would not be scrapped for at least 10 years.

The future of the policy, which the communist party claims has reduced the potential population by 400 million since it was introduced 30 years ago, has been the subject of intense debate within the government.

Critics say it is contributing to an imbalance between the sexes as couples selectively abort girl fetuses, and that it is about to lead to demographic disaster as a growing population of the elderly becomes dependent on fewer people of working age.

The tendency of some local officials to use brutal methods to enforce the law also leads to poor publicity abroad and increasingly at home.

Two weeks ago, comments from the deputy minister in charge of the family planning commission, Zhao Baige, fuelled more headlines. "We want to have this change incrementally," she said.