China's largest city will lead the nation by setting up a population forecast system to try and reduce fluctuations in birth rates over the next a few years, according to a draft regulation reviewed by the municipal people's congress on Friday.

The forecast data, as part of the city's population and family planning regulation, will be publicized periodically to make citizens aware of the situation relating to birth numbers in the city.

"The new measure, apart from increasing the transparency of information about births, will also help alleviate long existing problems caused by the city's fluctuating population growth,'' said Xia Yi, director of the Shanghai Population and Family Planning Commission.

It is predicted that under the current policy, the city's next baby boom will strike around 2010 after the booms of 1950 and 1980.

Under the draft, the stipulation of a four-year break between having children for couples who are allowed to have more than one child will be deleted.

"Although Shanghai's registered permanent population has for 10 years been decreasing and its aging problem is the most serious in the country, the legislation does not encourage more children,'' reassured Xia, correcting the mistake widely held that the draft will ease restrictions on births.

"The one-child policy remains the base for the new regulation.''

The city has several family planning measures, which have been implemented for some time. But this is the first time for them to be included in a regulation.

Xia said: "How to better control the population, to increase the population's quality of life and to improve the distribution of the population is the goal of the current legislation.''

The city's family planning policy was first introduced in 1976 and people born around that time are now rearing their own offspring.

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