BEIJING -- Vice premier Liu Yandong on Thursday urged local authorities to prudently and scientifically implement the adjusted population policy, which allows couples to have two children if one of them is an only child.

The adjustment of the family planning policy was made according to the change of demographic structure and will benefit the economic development and a balanced population, Liu said while inspecting the family planning work in Chaoyang District in Beijing.

But the adjustment does not change the basic state policy of family planning, as China still faces the basic reality of a huge population, according to Liu.

China had long implemented a "one-child" policy to control the population, limiting most couples to one child. It is estimated that the policy has prevented some 400 million births since the late 1970s.

The decision to adjust China's "one-child" policy was made in November by the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

Last week, the bimonthly session of the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, the top legislature, passed a resolution on the decision, entrusting provincial congresses and their standing committees to make their own calls on implementation.

Liu said that local governments should work out an overall scientific implementation plan and gradually promote the adjusted policy by taking their practical population conditions into consideration.