[Photo/VCG] BEIJING - The China Family Planning Association will continue providing guidance on reproductive health and childbirth, helping raise public willingness to have children, and resolving childcare difficulties. Labor pain, high costs of childcare and education, and shortage of kindergartens were the main reasons that stopped many Chinese parents from having babies, according to Wang Peian, deputy head of the association, in a work conference in Beijing. In response to a rapidly aging population, China allowed married couples to have two children from 2016, ending its decades-long one-child policy. Wang said the association would explore more services in childcare and early child development for children aged from under three years old in 2019. A total of 28 cities in China established guidance centers for childbirth in 2018, to provide standard and convenient services for young couples and growth trainings for children under three years old. In 2019, the association will help set up more guidance centers and online information platforms for marriage and pregnancy check-ups. A total of 17.58 million new babies were born in Chinese hospitals in 2017, and about 51 percent of the newborns were not the first child in their families, according to the National Health Commission. blank-wristband80s rubber braceletsfunny silicone wristbandsrubber braceletscustom-wristbands
Taipei 101 [Photo/IC] TAIPEI -- The Chung-Hua Institution for Economic Research (CIER), a Taiwan think-tank, on Wednesday cut its forecast for the island's economic growth rate in 2019 to 2.15 percent from the 2.18 percent projected in December. The cut in economic growth forecast was due to a more-than-expected slowdown amid trade disputes between major economies and fluctuations in raw materials prices, the CIER said. The economic growth is forecast to be below 2 percent in the first half but to pick up to exceed 2 percent in the second half amid stronger support from domestic demand, said CIER president Chen Shi-kuan. According to the CIER's latest forecast, Taiwan's economy is expected to reach 1.75 percent in the first quarter, 1.9 percent in the second quarter, 2.31 percent in the third quarter and 2.61 percent in the fourth quarter. Earlier in March, Taiwan's monetary authority also lowered the GDP forecast for 2019 by 0.2 percentage points to 2.13 percent from its previous projection in December 2018, citing lower domestic demand, trade conflicts and restructuring of global supply chains. custom-rubber-braceletscustom-wristbandscustomize-braceletsblank-wristbandfunny silicone wristbands<%2fcenter>
