Some deputies to the National People's Congress (NPC) from Beijing suggested that the capital city should take various measures to get it ready for a more relaxed one-child policy.

"Beijing will adjust its monthly allowance to one-child families," Ma Xu, an NPC deputy and also head of a research institute attached to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said on the sidelines of the ongoing second sessions of the 12th National People's Congress.

The current monthly allowance for Beijing couples who answered the country's call to have only one child is 10 yuan until their child reaches the legal age of 18. This amount has remained unchanged for 30 years, and is criticized by the public for being "meaningless." The monthly allowance in some provinces exceeds 200 yuan.

Ma noted, "The municipal government has been considering linking the allowance with a nursing fund-raising system since the one-child policy was loosened up."

So far, eight Chinese provincial regions, including Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Anhui and Beijing, have implemented a new policy which allows couples with one parent being an only child to have a second child.

Ma also said there was no timetable for allowing every Chinese couple to have a second child, but he suggested the country should begin researching the possibilities of completely lifting the one-child policy in the future as to cope with the challenges of China's rapidly aging society.

"What concerns me most is whether there can be a scientific prediction system to measure the number of school-age children and shortfall of teachers, so as to make a timely decision on how many new teachers are needed," said Wu Zhengxian, an NPC delegate and director of the Primary School Mathematics Teaching and Research Office at the Basic Education Research Center with the Beijing Academy of Educational Sciences.

Wu noted, "The city's primary schools are now feeling the pressure, since kids born during the baby booms of 2007 and 2008 have now started their primary education. The pressure will be exacerbated by the surging number of migrant workers' children and the possible baby booms after the one-child policy is relaxed."

Wu said, "Beijing needs to solve its shortage of primary school teachers, especially that of highly qualified teachers."

Earlier, some delegates also underlined that the city should expand social insurance, improve medical infrastructure and build more kindergartens to cope with possible baby booms brought on by the lifting of the one-child policy.

Yue Bingfei, an NPC deputy, proposed in late 2013 that the government should roll out specific regulations on nursing of parents with only one child, giving them priority in accessing social nursing services and exempt them from paying any nursing fees.

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