The Number

18,273 applications

Since Beijing began in February to implement the country's policy of allowing couples, where one partner is an only child, to give birth to a second child, the Beijing Health and Family Planning Commission has received 18,273 applications, with 16,741 of them approved, the commission announced on Friday. Of the applicants, more than 80 percent of the women are between 26 and 35 years old, the commission said.