Technology making a difference in births

The annual number of babies born in China through assisted reproductive technologies has surpassed 200,000, according to official figures. But experts say China's resources in the field have been strained under the growing demand for larger families.

Qin Geng, director-general of the Maternal and Child Health Department under the National Health Commission, said China has made steady progress in its capacity over the past three decades to help parents with fertility problems expand their families.

"Now more than 200,000 babies are born in China every year," after using reproductive assistance, "and that has translated into family bliss and social harmony", Qin said at a forum on Saturday marking the 30th anniversary of the first birth resulting from in vitro fertilization on the Chinese mainland. That birth took place at Peking University Third Hospital in March 1988.