Beijing: Beijing has urged parents to register the birth of their second child before Nov 1 -- if they don`t, they will be liable to pay fines, a media report said Monday.

China`s family planning policies encourages urban residents to limit their family size to one child.

Families who register their second child now will face minimal fines, while those who fail to inform about the newborns will get no government benefit to raise them, China Daily reported.

"However, the revised penalties will be less than usual fines, which were often eight or nine times the average annual household income," said Xi Kaili, spokesperson for the Beijing Municipal Commission of Population and Family Planning. Unregistered children will also lose citizenship.

According to the Beijing Statistics Bureau, the average annual wage in the capital last year was 30,000 yuan ($4,413). The minimum penalty for breaking the policy is 90,000 yuan.

"The circumstances have been rare for authorities to fine families by the minimum penalty, except in cases of families in extreme difficulty," said Xi.

Last year, around 100,000 babies were born in the capital but officials have said the real number may be much higher because some parents have had more than their single child permitted under the rules but have not reported the births to authorities to avoid penalties.

Beijing is encouraging people to register their unregistered children as part of the nationwide census that is held every 10 years and is being carried out this year.

Hou Donghai, a Beijing resident from the suburban Yanqing county, who was born as the second child in her family in 1986, said fewer people are breaking the rules these days.

Her family was fined 500 yuan in 1986 for violating the policy. The penalty since then has become much more severe.

An official with the Beijing Bureau of Statistics said most parents who break the rules in the capital are either migrants or people who can afford the penalties.

"I haven`t encountered an excess child in my neighbourhood for years," said the official, requesting anonymity.

BDST: 1730 HRS, August 30, 2010