One-third Nanjing couples would have second child

About one-third of couples in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, in which one spouse is an only child plan to have a second child, Modern Express reported on Thursday, citing findings of local residents' committees.

Some local residents' committees called married women aged between 20 and 40 to ask whether they would like to have a second baby. One-third of those eligible expressed their desire to do so, while more said they would wait and see.

The findings will be collected and presented to the health and family planning departments in Jiangsu province by the end of January, according to the report.

In late 2013, China's top family planning authority released a new policy, stating couples in which one spouse is an only child could choose to have two children.

Wang Yonghong, director of the Jiangsu provincial department of health, said at present the number of newborn babies in Jiangsu is 780,000 to 820,000 each year. After the new policy is implemented, he estimated a baby boom could begin from 2014, with an annual increase of 110,000 to 180,000 newborn babies, with the figure peaking in 2018.