Guangdong will pilot a two-child policy in the near future, Zhang Feng, former director of the Guangdong Population and Family Planning Commission, told media on Wednesday.

Zhang revealed in March, while he was still director, that the South China province was working to get permission to start a policy that allows couples to have two children as long as one is the only child of his or her parents.

National policy states that only couples who have urban residential permits and who are both only children can have a second child. Couples with rural registration can have a second child if their first child is a girl.

However, specific requirements - such as the age of the couple and their child - qualifying them to have a second child differ in different provinces.

State-level authorities have not yet responded to Guangdong's request, but Zhang predicted an imminent breakthrough during an interview with Yangcheng Evening News in Guangzhou, the provincial capital.

"Our country has been implementing the policy of family planning for more than 30 years and has reached a point where population restriction should be loosened in a moderate manner," he said. "The government will consider adjusting the policy."

In June, Zhang told Yangcheng Evening News that the increase in the nation's population has been slowing down, and that the family planning policy needs adjustment.

He suggested increasing the reward for couples that only have one child, so that it will help them through old age. He also recommended harsher punishment for those having more than three children.