--- title: China: Xinjiang Uighur Region Changes Family Planning Rules description: Xinjiang has adjusted its family planning policy so that it no longer affordes greater leniency to minority ethnic groups canonical: https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/ author: Joseph Hincks article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-01T09:42:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T16:48:49.416Z article:section: World og:title: Family Planning Rules Changed in China's Uighur Region og:description: Prior policies have given ethnic minorities more leniency og:url: https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42e8fd4c24f060cb/6988d7ee196cf48fce041439/gettyimages-813183012.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Uyghur Life Endures in Kashgar's Old City og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Family Planning Rules Changed in China's Uighur Region twitter:description: Prior policies have given ethnic minorities more leniency twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42e8fd4c24f060cb/6988d7ee196cf48fce041439/gettyimages-813183012.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # China's Restive Xinjiang Province Changes Family Planning Rules to 'Promote Ethnic Equality' by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Aug 1, 2017 9:42 AM CUT  An ethnic Uighur woman walks with her children in Kashgar, Xinjiang, on June 28, 2017. An ethnic Uighur woman walks with her children in Kashgar, Xinjiang, on June 28, 2017.Kevin Frayer—Getty Images by [Joseph Hincks](/author/joseph-hincks/) ## Joseph Hincks Aug 1, 2017 9:42 AM CUT A restive region of northwestern China has just altered its family planning policy to [no longer allow](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1058905.shtml "undefined") ethnic minorities to have more children than other residents, in what the state-run media says is a testament to the government’s commitment to “ethnic equality.” The revised regulations, which came into force Friday in the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, will now permit urban couples to have two children and rural couples to have three children regardless of their ethnicity, reports the government’s _Global Times_ newspaper. Ethnically Han Chinese parents were previously allowed one child less than minority families in the special region, despite the lifting of the country’s one-child policy almost two years ago. Prior policies have given ethnic minorities in the autonomous region more family planning leniency than the Han, who comprise more than 90% of China’s overall population and an estimated 40% of the population of Xinjiang. **Read More:** [_China Orders Everyone in One Province to Hand Their Passports Over to Police_](http://time.com/4582214/china-xinjiang-uighur-passports-terrorism/ "undefined") The province, which borders Central Asia, is home to some 10 million Muslim Uighurs, who say they routinely face discrimination. Tensions have worsened in recent years amid heightened security measures in the wake of a [separatist insurgency](http://time.com/11687/deadly-terror-attack-in-southwestern-china-blamed-on-separatist-muslim-uighurs/ "undefined"). Altering the child policy is likely to be viewed as an attempt to increase the Han population and further isolate Uighurs in the frontier region that is sometimes likened to Tibet for its ethnically-infused policies. \[[_Global Times_](http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1058905.shtml "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/"},"headline":"China's Restive Xinjiang Province Changes Family Planning Rules to 'Promote Ethnic Equality'","datePublished":"2017-08-01T09:42:18.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T16:48:49.416Z","description":"Prior policies have given ethnic minorities more leniency","url":"https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/","keywords":["China","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42e8fd4c24f060cb/6988d7ee196cf48fce041439/gettyimages-813183012.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Joseph Hincks","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/joseph-hincks/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt42e8fd4c24f060cb/6988d7ee196cf48fce041439/gettyimages-813183012.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Uyghur Life Endures in Kashgar's Old City","caption":"Uyghur Life Endures in Kashgar's Old City","creditText":"Kevin Frayer—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/china/","name":"China"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4881898/china-xinjiang-uighur-children/","name":"China's Restive Xinjiang Province Changes Family Planning Rules to 'Promote Ethnic Equality'"}}]}] ```