(Yicai) Oct. 18 -- Given the declining number of first-child births, China should shift the focus of its maternity policies to families having their first child, according to a population expert.

To significantly improve the effect of its active childbirth policy, China should shift the focus of its maternity subsidies toward families having their first child, Dong Yuzheng, special researcher at the counselor's office of the Guangdong provincial government, told Yicai.

The number of first children born in China last year fell by 270,000 to 4.4 million from the previous year, data from the National Health Commission showed on Oct. 12. First-child births accounted for just over 46 percent of China's total 9.6 million births last year, up 2 percentage points from the previous year.

Meanwhile, third- and above births in China reached 1.4 million last year, accounting for about 14 percent of the total, NHC data also showed. This was thanks to the introduction of measures to encourage fertility, including granting maternity allowance and housing subsidies, mainly aimed at families with three children.

The number of second children born in China fell by 680,000 to 3.7 million last year from the previous one, down nearly 59 percent from 2017, as the effects of the universal two-child policy began to wear off in 2018, according to the NHC. China's second-child births accounted for 40 percent of the total last year, compared with 51 percent in 2017.

The negative effects of the declining birth rate in China are visible in many aspects. Some Chinese hospitals have halted obstetric delivery services since the beginning of the year. Moreover, the number of kindergartens in China fell to 5,000 last year from the previous one, dropping for the first time since 2008.

Editors: Shi Yi, Futura Costaglione