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The loosening of China’s one-child policy was expected to produce a baby boom, but fewer couples are signing up for bigger families than the government expected

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A mother pushes her daughter on a swing in Beijing April 3, 2013. China relaxed its one child-policy last year, but far fewer couples are signing up for larger families than the government expeted. The move was part of a plan to raise fertility rates and ease the financial burden on a rapidly ageing population.© Jason Lee / Reuters/Reuters

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An elderly couple feed their great-grandson with a piece of cake as they sit under the sun in winter in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, January 9, 2013. China's one-child policy has produced less trusting, less trustworthy and less competitive children compared to the generation born before the policy was introduced, a study has found.William Hong/Reuters

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Li Yan (L), pregnant with her second child, lies on a bed as her daughter places her head on her mother's stomach in Hefei, Anhui province February 20, 2014. Li gave birth to a baby boy on February 23, 2014.China Daily/Reuters

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Li Yan, left, attends to her newborn baby boy at a hospital in Hefei, Anhui province, China on Feb. 23, 2014. Ms. Li gave birth to a baby boy on Sunday after Li's family became the first to receive a birth permit to have a second child in the province earlier this month, local media reported. Chinese government said late last year it would allow millions of families to have two children, with a relaxation of its one-child policy if one of the parents was an only child.© China Daily/Reuters

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Jin Yanxi, who was born in 2014, poses for a photograph in Shanghai September 4, 2014.Carlos Barria/Reuters

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