China population falls as birth rate drops to lowest since 1949

A decade after ending China's longtime one-child policy, the country’s authorities are pushing a range of ideas and policies to try to encourage more births—tactics that range from cash subsidies to taxing condoms to eliminating a tax on matchmakers and day care centres.

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The efforts haven't paid off yet. At least, that’s what population figures released Monday show for the world’s second-most populous nation. China’s population of 1.4 billion continued to shrink, marking the fourth straight year of de