Story highlights Meeting of China's NPC approves two-child policy

The policy" is "a proactive response to the issue of an aging population," state news says

China instituted a policy of one child per couple to control population growth in the 1970s

(CNN) It's official. From January 1, 2016 China will allow two children for every couple.

Chinese lawmakers rubber-stamped the new legislation Sunday during a session of the National People's Congress Standing Committee, which governs the country's laws, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported

"The state advocates that one couple shall be allowed to have two children," according to the newly revised Law on Population and Family Planning.

This effectively dismantles the remnants of the country's infamous one-child policy that had been eased in recent years.

When news of the planned change to the law broke in October, the ruling Communist Party issued the following statement: "To promote a balanced growth of population, China will continue to uphold the basic national policy of population control and improve its strategy on population development.