China loosened up on its “one child” policy after authorities said that the country has prepared for 2 million extra babies annually. Health officials said on Thursday that the move would allow more parents to have two children.

The Communist Party in China has introduced birth restrictions in 1980 to control the growing population in the country and the scarcity of water and other resources at that time. Most couples in the city areas have been allowed to have only one child and would be penalized for additional births.

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The new policy has already been implemented in Beijing, Shanghai, Tianjin and Chongqing. Others area in China allowed to have more than one child included the provinces of Jiangsu, Sichuan, Anhui, Zhejiang and Guangdong.

The pressure to enforce the birth restrictions have led women to abort the unborn or to be sterilized even as these measures are deemed illegal.

Officials said in November that one parent who was born as an only child would be allowed to have a second child in some areas in the country. Previously, both parents should be an only child to be able to qualify for a second child.

Meanwhile, National Health and Family Planning Commission deputy minister Wang Guoqing said that the country is already facing scarcity of maternity equipment. Women and children’s health division official Zhang Shikun said that local officials were already told to construct more health facilities including maternity beds.

UNICEF reported that in 2013, China has already reached 18.5 million births. A projected increase would be equivalent of around 11 percent of the present rate.

Experts said that the 2 million additional births in the country would be on top of the estimates. Meanwhile, other reports said that the figure may be lower because China has already accepted smaller families.

A similar move was imposed in Ningxia on Thursday.

TagsOne Child Policy, Jiangsu, Sichuan, Anhui, Zhejiang, Chongqing, UNICEF