The Chinese parliament has approved a revised adoption law which makes it easier for Chinese people to adopt abandoned children.

The new law allows citizens to adopt, whether or not they have their own children, and lowers the required age for adoptive parents from thirty-five to thirty.

However, it also tightens rules for foreigners wishing to adopt a Chinese baby.

The previous adoption law reflected China's tight family planning policies, by only allowing childless Chinese people to adopt, and limiting them to a single child.

The Chinese news agency says the new rules are intended to protect the rights of children and offer more orphans a family life.