Guangdong sees 1 in 8 births in China

Guangdong, China’s largest regional economy, remained the country’s baby-making powerhouse last year, accounting for roughly one in every eight newborns nationwide, reports the South China Morning Post. This came even as the overall population declined, according to the latest official demographic breakdown.

Guangdong, the southern economic hub, recorded a natural population growth rate–measured as births minus deaths–of 2.26 per 1,000 people. It was one of just seven provinces to report positive natural population growth last year, most of the others being less-developed regions such as Tibet, Xinjiang and Qinghai.

The development came as Beijing vowed to stabilize the number of newborns at a high-level meeting last week, as the world’s second-largest economy grapples with low fertility, an ageing population and a shrinking workforce that many fear could impact its long-term economic prospects.