Beijing must brace for baby boom, legislators say

Beijing lawmakers and sociologists urged the government on Friday to prepare for a possible baby boom after the capital relaxes its family planning policy next year.

A draft amendment to Beijing's family planning policy was delivered for its first review on Friday. If it is approved, city couples with one parent as an only child will be eligible to have a second child starting in March at the earliest.

Beijing's revision echoes a national-level decision to relax the one-child policy across the country, announced by the Communist Party of China last month. Local governments were asked at that time to set their own timetable for a relaxation of the policy.