The policy undoubtedly made some sense when China was a Malthusian wasteland, but those days are long gone. Now the country is facing a demographic time bomb that, among other things, has even caused some economists to muse about men “sharing” wives. Will the change help? Yes, but only in the long run, and only if it is combined with other reforms that make having children in urban areas more financially feasible.
The Communist Party doesn’t exactly like to admit its fallibility, but it has effectively done so here. How will the people react? We’ll see.