No child care means no second child for many

Some women say it's too hard to find help; private investors reluctant to enter the market

Nearly a year after China stepped into the new second-child policy era, child care has become a prominent issue in family planning, with more than 60 percent of the mothers who don't want a second child saying it's just too hard to find help.

Wang Pei'an, deputy director of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a Beijing forum on population on Saturday that the country will welcome more than 17.5 million newborns in 2016 - a 5.7 percent increase over last year's 16.55 million. But the figure is consistent with official projections made when the new policy took effect on Jan 1. The projected number of newborns this year will be about the same as it was in 2000, Wang said.