The second-child policy pushed China's total fertility rate up to more than 1.7 last year, an increase from between 1.5 and 1.6 between 2000 and 2015.[Special Coverage]
Wang Pei'an, deputy minister in charge of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told a news conference on Saturday that the increase was due to the new policy adopted at the beginning of last year allowing all couples to have a second child.
More than 18.4 million babies were born in China last year, the highest number since 2000, Wang said.
The fertility rate is the average number of children a woman gives birth to in her lifetime.
