The Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region will officially relax the country's decades-old "one child" policy from March to allow local couples, who meet the criteria, to have two children, Guangxi Daily reported.

According to the revised rules concerning family planning policies in the region, that will come into effect on March 1, couples in which either the husband or wife is an only child will be allowed to have a second child, said Huang Dan, director the Guangxi region population and family planning commission.

Guangxi has become the first region to officially relax the family planning policy which has helped the region’s birth rate.

According to Huang, the birth rate in the region has fallen to 14.2 per thousand in 2012 from 25.17 per thousand in 1980.

The region's population growth rate reached 7.89 per thousand in 2012, compared to 19.37 per thousand in 1980.

zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn