Eastern Chinese province first to ease one-child policy

Nurses show a pair of fraternal twins to their mother (bottom) after they were born at the IVF centre of a hospital in Xi'an, Shaanxi province August 16, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's wealthy eastern province of Zhejiang became the first to implement a new landmark relaxation of the country's strict one-child policy on Friday, state media reported, allowing more parents to have a second child.

The government said late last year it would allow millions of families to have two children, the most radical relaxation of its strict one-child policy in close to three decades. The move is part of a plan to raise fertility rates and ease the financial burden on China's rapidly ageing population.