There has been a shift in focus on family planning in this year's government work report delivered by Premier Li Keqiang on the opening day of the third session of the 12th National People's Congress in Beijing, March 5, 2014.

Premier Li pointed out in this year's report that "we will advance the reform in family planning services and the way they are managed".

The line "we will unwaveringly adhere to the basic state policy of family planning", which was mentioned in previous year work report, was not said by him this time.

Liang Jianzhang and Huang Wenzheng, columnists for caixin.com, think that the changes in the speech indicate that the family planning policy will gradually become history. The central government's attitude towards the population issue has changed dramatically.

"We will advance the reform of family planning services and the way they are managed," said the work report, with the focus on family planning services, and emphasis on management and reform.

It might be that the government is laying the groundwork for reforming the policy, said the columnists.

Let's compare the previous years' reports with this year's report to see the changes in expressions.

In the 2015 work report, Premier Li points out that the government will strengthen the prevention and control of major diseases. "We will actively develop traditional Chinese medicine and the traditional medicine of ethnic minorities, and advance the reform of family planning services and the way they are managed. Good health is a basic public necessity, so we must work consistently to raise the standard of medical and healthcare services to create a healthy China."

While, in the report on the work of the government in 2014, Premier Li had said that the government will unwaveringly adhere to the basic state policy of family planning and will implement the policy that allows married couples to have two children if one parent is a single child. The basic state policy of family planning was also referred in the government work report delivered by the then-premier Wen Jiabao.

Liang Jianzhang, an expert in population, said the change is a signal that the policy on population has started to change.

Zhai Zhenwu, President of China Population Association, disagreed with the assesment. He said there has been no change in basic state policy of family planning. "We do not need to read too much into the policy," he said.