China maintains low birth rate in 2011

BEIJING - China had a birth rate of 4.79 births per 1,000 people in 2011, with 16.04 million newborns, according to a Monday report from the National Population and Family Planning Commission.

The birth rate has remained stable and low, the report said.

The gender ratio among newborns, which is used to calculate gender imbalances, dropped for the third year to 117.78 male infants for every 100 females born in 2011, the report said.

The commission attributed the gender ratio reduction to improved family planning services.

The report said the number of married women of child-bearing age reached 277.69 million in 2011, an increase of 4.42 million over 2010.

The report said efforts have been made to improve family planning services for migrant workers, with more than 85 percent of the country's migrant population having access to free family planning services in 2011.