More than half of Chinese newborns are second children, state media report
Some 52 per cent of the 11.6 million babies born from January to August have an older sibling, according to Xinhua
Over half the babies born in China in the first eight months of 2017 were second children, official media reported on Tuesday after the relaxation of the long-standing one-child rule.
The number of parents choosing to have a second child has surged since Beijing loosened strict caps on family size in January 2016 to try to rejuvenate the ageing labour force.
Some 52 per cent of the 11.6 million babies born between January and August have an older sibling, said the state news agency Xinhua, citing Wang Peian, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.
That compares to about 45 per cent in 2016, when 18.5 million babies were born in hospital, the highest since 2000, according to the report.
Last year’s baby boom was thought to be partly due to the relaxation of the one-child policy, but also because 2016 was the lunar year of the monkey – considered a particularly auspicious zodiac sign to be born under.