Family planning officials say they're anticipating an extra million births in China this year under the loosened family planning policies.

Officials anticipate around 18-million children are going to be born in China through 2015.

Yang Wenzhuang with the National Health and Family Planning Commission says while the number of women who are in child-bearing age is dropping, the number of births is still on the rise.

"16.87 million babies were born in China last year, about 400,000 more than that of 2013. The birth rate also increased by 0.03-percent."

Zhai Zhenwu heads the China Population Association.

He says they're anticipating a growing number of couples are going to choose to have a 2nd child.

"As most of the couples who fit into the loosened policy are born in the 1980s, they are still young. We estimate this group is going to choose to have a second child in the next 4 or 5-years. Since the overall number of couples eligible to have a 2nd child is 6.6 million, the annual average is likely to be more than a million."

Under changes to the family planning policies, if just one parent is the product of the one-child policy, that couple is allowed to have a 2nd child.

Previously both parents had to be the product of the one-child policy to qualify for a 2nd child.