India, Sept. 10 -- China's commercial metropolis Shanghai, grappling with one of China's highest rates of ageing and lowest rates of fertility, has made maternal care completely free in its latest move to encourage childbirth.

The city Government rolled out a policy on Tuesday that waives all out-of-pocket expenses for maternal care, from pregnancy screenings through childbirth to postnatal follow-ups.

The policy builds on - and goes beyond - a central Government commitment to make basic services for hospital delivery free to all patients across the country by the end of this year, part of a push to raise birth rates amid a looming demographic crisis that threatens the country's long-term economic prosperity, the Hong Kong-based South C...