Birth defects across country on the rise

The rate of birth defects in China is rising rapidly, almost doubling over the past decade in Beijing with sharp increases in several other provinces.

The capital's rate of birth defects last year was 170 per 10,000 births, nearly twice the rate of 90 per 10,000 in 1997, the Beijing municipal health bureau has announced.

"The higher incidence is mainly because diagnostic techniques and monitoring capability have improved, as well as more and more women are delaying having children," Beijing Daily quoted an anonymous officer with the Beijing health bureau.