End of China's one child policy to mean 3m more babies per year

Chinese Commission on Health and Family Planning said on Tuesday that the end of China’s one child policy could lead to an estimated additional three million children born each year.

Pei’an Wang, the Commission’s spokesman, said that by 2050, China’s labour force of people older than 15 may swell by an estimated 30 million people.

The number of babies born per year would rise from about 17 million to peak at above 20 million by the year 2020, Wang said.

The one child policy was introduced in the 1970s to prevent a population explosion and without which China will have about 300 million more people than now.

China made the surprise announcement in October that it would abolish its one child policy and allow all married couples to have two children.

The change in policy is intended to balance population development and address the challenge of an ageing population.