China formally passes three-child policy into law

The regulation was passed on Friday during a meeting of country's top lawmakers, the National People's Congress (NPC).

China had announced back in May that it would allow couples to have up to three children, in a major policy shift.

That decision has now been formally passed into law, along with several resolutions aimed at boosting the birth rate and "reducing the burden" of raising a child.

The move was taken after country’s census data showed a sharp drop in birth rates.

In 2016, China scrapped its decades-old one-child policy in and replaced it with a two-child limit which has failed to lead to a sustained upsurge in births.

The cost of raising children in major cities has deterred many Chinese couples to have more than one child.