News Plus慢速英语:北京单独二孩申请人数突破5万 首届全国双创周北京签约金额超20亿元

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More than 53,000 couples in Beijing have applied for a second child since the city loosened its birth control policy early last year.
By the end of September, 53,000 couples in Beijing had submitted applications, among which 48,000 couples were approved. Of the potential mothers, 57 percent were aged between 31 and 35.
China introduced its family planning policy in the late 1970s to rein in population growth by limiting most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two, allowing the birth of a second child if the first child was a girl.
A major policy change at the end of 2013 allowed couples nationwide to have a second child if either parent was an only child.
Beijing has a permanent population of more than 20 million. The city estimates that the new policy would increase this number by more than 270,000. The city will have around 54,000 additional births annually until 2019, when the figure will peak and begin to go down steadily.

This is NEWS Plus Special English.
Investments worth more than two billion yuan, roughly 315 million U.S. dollars, were made in Beijing during China's first mass entrepreneurship and innovation week in October.
The event started on Oct.19 at a major high-tech zone in Beijing.
Competitions and forums for manufacturers, do-it-yourself inventors and craftsmen were held in Beijing, Shanghai and other major cities across China.
Exhibitors from Beijing took almost half of the country's total participating projects during the week. More than 200 cooperation deals and agreements were inked, involving investments exceeding two billion yuan.
The Chinese government has approved several new measures to boost innovation and entrepreneurship, including financial support, facility construction and administrative assistance.
Confronted with economic headwinds, China has been counting on entrepreneurship and innovation to generate new jobs and improve the skill sets of its citizens, thus, warming up the slowing economy.