A peak period in the birthrate is exerting extra pressure on the already overburdened kindergartens of China's big cities.

Over the weekend, large numbers of parents began waiting in line, early in the morning, to register for a kindergarten place in the Jing'an district of Shanghai for the autumn term.

"This is just the first step. Their registration information will be sent to the district's education department for allocation. We can't assure them that their children have registered successfully," said a teacher surnamed Fang, from Huashan Art Kindergarten, one of the registration centers.

Fang said that, due to the increasing number of applicants, her kindergarten has enlarged enrollment from two to three classes, each with 25 children. The school has also turned some offices into classrooms to meet the demand.

Statistics from the local population department show that Shanghai has seen about 170,000 to 180,000 new births each year over the past four years.