China has decided to end its one-child policy and will ease family planning regulations to allow couples to have two children, Chinese media agency Xinhua announced on Thursday. The decision comes in light of China’s recent economic slowdown.

The Independent reported that the Communist Party’s Central Committee met in Beijing and over the course of four days has decided to drop the three-decade-old one-child rule as part of President Xi Jinping’s plans to manage China’s economy. Xinhua added that the decision was "to improve the balanced development of population" and to deal with an aging population. United Nations estimates show that the nation would have more than 440 million people over the age of 60 by 2050.