Article: Asian retailers plan to cash in on all the little 'piglets' expected in 2007.(Verve)

BYLINE: Lucy Hornby, Jon Herskovitz and Jang Sera

Beijing and Seoul - A baby boom is about to hit parts of Asia as couples try to ensure their newborns get a happy, wealthy life by starting off in the Year of the Pig.

This Chinese lunar new year, which started yesterday, is believed to be an especially auspicious "golden pig year", which only comes around every 60 years.

South Korea is going a step further, saying it's the best time in 600 years to have a baby due to an anomaly on the Chinese calendar where this pig year - known as "red", the colour of wealth - follows a year with two days to mark the start of spring.

In China, where ...

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