It looks like the two-child policy is finally starting to have an impact in Beijing. With roughly 100,000 more babies born in Beijing’s hospitals in 2016, the capital saw a major increase in the number of newborns compared to previous years, Xinhua reports.
In 2016, 280,000 babies were born in the capital – up 62 percent compared to 2015. Roughly 30 percent of these babies were not the first child.
China abolished the one-child policy in October 2015 and replaced it with a two-child policy. Therefore, 2016 was the first time a year’s worth of data could be analyzed.
Given the increase in childbirths in Beijing, the capital has vowed to improve family planning services by upping the number of obstetricians and midwives. The number of available hospital beds will also be increased.
In January, the National Health and Family Planning Commission announced that 18.46 million babies were born in Chinese hospitals in 2016 – 1.31 million more compared to 2015. That is also the highest number of newborns since 2000.
[Photo via AsiaNews]
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