China's maternal mortality rate declined last year, despite a sharp rise in the number of births following the implementation of the universal two-child policy, according to the top health authority.

The maternal mortality rate last year was 199 per 1 million births, compared with 201 per 1 million births in 2015, Ma Xiaowei, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said at a national conference on maternal health on Friday.

Meanwhile, the mortality rate for children under the age of 5 decreased to 10.2 per 1,000 last year, Ma said.