BEIJING - Beijing expects 200,000 "dragon babies" in 2012, the traditionally auspicious year of the dragon, twice the number born in the city in 2004, said an official with the municipal health bureau on Thursday.

The municipal health bureau director Fang Laiying said Beijing is planning to build three children's hospitals, but with no fixed time table, and set up a children's healthcare network in 2012, based on established facilities.

Beijing saw 98,000 babies born in 2004, 161,000 in 2007 (the year of the pig), and 171,000 in 2008.

The Chinese zodiac has 12 animals, each represents one year, and some years are regarded more auspicous than others, such as the years of the pig and dragon.

Fang told reporters that his bureau will not sharply expand the scale of healthcare only for the "dragon babies", however, efforts will be made to improve the medical services for children, such as the establishment of the children's healthcare network.

He noted that Beijing has enough hospital beds for the "dragon babies," but the only problem is that most pregnant mothers want to deliver babies in the triple A hospitals, which can't cater for all the pregnant women in the city.