A nurse cares newborns in a hospital in Lanzhou, northwest China's Gansu Province, Mayy 12, 2015. (Xinhua/ Fan Peikun)
BEIJING, July 10 (Xinhua) -- China saw more newborns last year than previous year thanks partly to the relaxation of the nation's one-child policy, health authorities said Friday.
The number of newborns grew to 16.87 million in 2014, compared with 15.92 million in 2010, Yang Wenzhuang, a health official, said at a press conference.
China's total population reached 1.368 billion by the end of 2014, according to Yang.
China is still reviewing adjustments to the country's birth policy implemented in order to decide whether further changes are needed.
Couples can now have two children if either parent is an only child.
China, the world's most populous country, first introduced its family planning policy in the late 1970s to rein in surging population by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two if the first child was a girl.
A major policy change was adopted at the end of 2013, stipulating that couples nationwide may now have a second child if either parent is an only child.
The adjustment. which was put into practice in early 2014, did not lead to a baby boom many had expected, and some experts are now suggesting a full implementation of the two-child policy.
The China Population Association expected in February this year that new births will be raised by another one million this year.
Chinese authorities had in the past defended the country's previous one-child policy, saying it had prevented around 400 million people from being added to China's population.
But one-child policy did lead to a number of social problems over the years.
Earlier reports said China's labor force had decreased by 3.45 million year on year in 2012, marking the first "absolute decrease" since China's reform and opening up in 1979.
As of 2013, the number of Chinese people aged 60 or above exceeded 202 million, 8.53 million more than in 2012 and already accounting for 15 percent of the total population, up 0.6 percentage points.
Gender imbalance is another side effect of the one-child policy, as a result of Chinese parents' preference for boys.
In 2014, the boy-to-girl sex ratio of newborns stood at 115.88 to 100.
