China's population is rising following the implementation of the country's second-child policy.

An expert has predicted that this may even increase further two to three years from now. This means that the Asian nation's population would increase by an anticipated 18 million births each year.

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In an interview with Global Times, Yuan Xin, Nankai University professor, shared his prediction.

"The data given by the NHFPC (National Health and Family Planning Commission), based on birth certificates released last year, is closer to the country's actual birth situation," Yuan, who is also an expert on family planning policy, said.

Based on the data released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), mainland China posted a total population of 1.38 billion at the end of 2016. This shows an increase of 8.09 million compared to the previous year's figure.

The data also revealed that at least 708 million of China's latest population are men, while 675 million are women.

The head of the NHFPC's Department of Community Family Planning, Yang Wenzhuang, said during a press conference in Beijing on Sunday that more than 45 percent of newborns in 2016 were non-first children.

Meanwhile, China Daily has reported that the implementation of the second-child policy at the start of last year had a major effect on the increase of births in the country. Data showed that the number of newborns in 2016 reached 17.86 million, a leap of 7.9 percent year-on-year.

"It demonstrates that the universal second-child policy came in time and worked effectively," Yang said. "Some regions, mostly large cities in eastern areas, began recording second children as comprising more than half of local newborns."

Tagschina, china population, China Child Policy, China Second-Child Policy