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| China two-child policy shows ‘notable results’ with largest number of newborns since 2000 | China two-child policy shows ‘notable results’ with largest number of newborns since 2000 |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| China’s two-child policy is showing “notable results” with the fertility rate expected to rise through to 2020, a senior health official said on Saturday. | |
| Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of China’s annual meeting of parliament, Wang Peian, vice-minister of the National Health and Family Planning Commission said there were “notable results” in 2016, with the largest annual number of newborn babies since 2000. | |
| Wang said 18.46 million live births were recorded last year, two million more than the average of the previous five years. | Wang said 18.46 million live births were recorded last year, two million more than the average of the previous five years. |
| The total fertility rate also rose to 1.7 children per woman, compared to 1.5 to 1.6 per cent between 2000 and 2015, he added. | The total fertility rate also rose to 1.7 children per woman, compared to 1.5 to 1.6 per cent between 2000 and 2015, he added. |
| China introduced its controversial one-child policy in 1979 to limit population growth, but authorities are now concerned the country’s dwindling workforce will not be able to support an increasingly ageing population. | |
| In 2015 China said it would allow all married couples to have two children, to address those concerns. | In 2015 China said it would allow all married couples to have two children, to address those concerns. |
| Wang said the rising trend will continue through to 2020, during which the annual number of newborns is expected to range between 17 million and 19 million. | Wang said the rising trend will continue through to 2020, during which the annual number of newborns is expected to range between 17 million and 19 million. |
| “We are very optimistic,” he added. | |
| China’s birth rate, one of the lowest in the world, has switched from being regarded as an achievement in response to concerns about over-population to becoming a source of anxiety for authorities worried about an ageing workforce. | |
| Reuters | Reuters |