Full coverage: China’s Leaders

BEIJING, May 18 (Xinhua) -- President Xi Jinping said at a conference of the Family Planning Association on Wednesday that China must adhere to the basic state policy of family planning for the long term.

"The population issue has always been an overall, long-term, strategic issue facing our country," said Xi in a written instruction to the conference in Beijing.

"For quite a long time in the future, China's basic national condition of a large population will not fundamentally change. The population pressure on economic and social development will not fundamentally change. The tensions between population and resources and environment will not fundamentally change," said Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Xi spoke highly of the efforts of the family planning association over the years, adding that it should earnestly perform its duties, guide the people to correctly understand the adjustment to the family planning policy, and provide relevant services.

Since January 1, China has allowed all married couples to have two children. This follows an earlier easing of the policy in 2013 allowing couples to have a second child if either parent was an only child.

The latest change ended the "one child" policy since it was implemented in the late 1970s.