Party and government officials and employees in South China's Guangdong province will be expelled from the Communist Party of China and dismissed from public office if they have a second child outside the mainland.

According to a local regulation, giving birth to a second child in other countries and regions is now clearly defined as a violation of the family planning policy.

The Guangdong Party Commission for Discipline Inspection promised to expand investigations into whether local officials have adhered to the family planning policy.

Moreover, officials will not be promoted if they are found to have violated family planning policies.

"All candidates in the pool for possible promotion will be carefully vetted before they are promoted,"said Luo Wenzhi, director of the Guangdong provincial population and family planning commission, at a conference on Monday.

The new rule was adopted after a growing number of local Party and government officials were found to have illegally had a child outside the mainland.

Guangdong provincial commission of population and family planning said last year that Guangdong has no plans to loosen the country’s decades-old family planning policy.

Many Guangdong residents travel outside the mainland to give birth, with Hong Kong as one of the major destinations.

With more than 104 million residents, the prosperous province, which borders the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions, has surpassed Henan and Shandong provinces to become the most populous province in China.

Contact the writer at zhengcaixiong@chinadaily.com.cn