Yang Wenzhuang, vice director of the family planning guidance sector of China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on Tuesday that China's new policy to allow all couples to have two children will not result in explosive population growth that will threaten Hong Kong's supply of baby products, according to a report by Women of China.
During a press conference on Nov. 10 held by the State Council Information Office, journalists expressed the concern of Hong Kong and Macao residents that the new two-child policy will cause a shortage in powder and medical care supplies.
According to the head of the publicity department of the commission, the policy would not cause a major change in Hong Kong's milk powder and medical care supplies. However, journalists at the press conference wanted to know the basis of such prediction.
Yang responded by acknowledging that residents from Guangzhou and Shenzhen have gone to Hong Kong to buy baby formula, causing some locals to become worried.
"I think, on the one hand, in the next few years China will expand investment in the manufacture and supply of maternity and baby products according to the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020)," Yang said. "On the other hand, domestic firms will also input more in this market in line with the potential social demand."
Yang also said that the international market boasts plenty of resources and will export related products to China. The Chinese government will make an overall plan of domestic and foreign resources according to the needs of the new-born population in the future and further implement the strategy of open and sharing development proposed at the Fifth Plenum of the 18th CPC Central Committee.
Yang added that he is convinced that "increases in the birth rate will not threaten the supply of milk powder and diapers on the Hong Kong market."
After the policy is fully implemented, China's fertility rate will gradually improve but will not experience an explosive growth. It is believed that both China and the rest of the world will see the potential of this opportunity and increase their investment in relevant fields to better satisfy the need of the domestic market.
Fan Lanying, director of Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning, most of the pressure is on the capital, with over 30,000 women having been asked to be placed on record each day since the policy was launched. However, Beijing can satisfy the huge needs by improving the quality of services.