Liu Minxia, Cao Ying

    mllmx@msn.com

    SHENZHEN’S birth rate among permanent residents increased by 8.24 percent last year, partly as a result of the one-child policy’s easing, allowing couples to have a second child if either spouse is an only child.

    The birth rate among hukou residents rose by 1 percentage point to 89 percent, while that for non-hukou holders rose by 11 percentage points to 83.6 percent, the city’s family planning and health commission announced Friday.

    Since the city relaxed its one-child policy in March, 13,672 couples have applied to have a second child, accounting for 41 percent of the 30,513 couples who are qualified to do so. The number of applications reached its peak in May, at 2,647, and dropped steeply afterwards, the commission said.

    The monthly number of applications is around 1,000 now, which is in line with estimates, according to the commission, which previously claimed that the new policy wouldn’t generate a baby boom because many parents are “rational” and would take birth and educational costs into consideration.

    By the end of last year, 2,260 second children had been born. The number of applications this year is expected to remain steady, it said.

    More than three-quarters of mothers who are qualified to have a second child are aged between 30 and 39. Just one percent are older than 40, and the remainder are between 20 and 29, according to official statistics. Women aged 30 to 39 showed the most desire to have a second child.

    Meanwhile, the city’s birth defect rate was 1.96 percent last year, much lower than the average rate of Guangdong, 3.19 percent, the commission said.