This is Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing. Here is the news.
China will increase the number of beds in obstetrics units and train more midwives to meet the rapidly growing demand for maternal services resulting from the universal second-child policy.
China&`&s top health authority said in a guideline released recently that it will speed up training of obstetricians and midwives to produce 140,000 such professionals before 2020.
The National Health and Family Planning Commission also urged local health authorities nationwide to add a total of 89,000 beds in obstetrics units in the next few years to help close the gap between supply and demand of maternal services.
The guideline is intended to improve basic maternal healthcare services to ensure the universal second-child policy, implemented at the beginning of the year, is smoothly carried out.
There is a severe shortage of obstetricians and midwives in China, with just 30 midwives for every 1 million pregnant women, far below most other countries.
The birth rate has increased with the new second-child policy, especially in big cities, causing great strains on maternal resources and a shortage of medical professionals.
Occupation rates of beds in obstetrics units at major hospitals in Beijing reached an average of 108 percent last year before the policy was implemented. The commission said this means that all beds were in use and temporary solutions were required to meet demands in such hospitals.
This is Special English.
A century-old railway station in Beijing has been put out of service due to the construction of an intercity railway linking Beijing and Zhangjiakou city in Hebei Province.
The Qinghuayuan Railway Station, built in 1910, will be preserved as the station still retains some of its original features.
Local residents near the station have come and taken photos of the site. Some bought a ticket as a keepsake.
In addition, the Beijing North Railway Station has also suspended ticket sales to coordinate with the construction of the new intercity railway.
According to the Beijing Railway Administration, information of the affected trains and stations will be released to the public as early as possible to minimize any potential inconvenience caused by the changes.
The new intercity railway is expected to be finished in 2020 and to serve by 2022 for the Winter Olympic Games co-hosted by the two cities.
The railway will allow a maximum speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It will take only 50 minutes to travel from one city to the other, a distance of approximately 170 kilometers.
You&`&re listening to Special English. I&`&m Ryan Price in Beijing.
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