Fewer couples than expected apply to have 2nd child in China
申请二胎夫妻人数低于预期

It's been more than a year since the country relaxed its one-child policy, allowing some people to have a second child.

On Monday, the National Health and Family Planning Commission, said nearly a million couples around the country have so far applied to have a second child by the end of 2014. That number is far less than expected: Around eleven million couples became eligible to have a second child, under the relaxation of the policy, the government predicted that some two million of those couples would choose to take up the option, but only half of them have done so.

Experts say that will mean less of a desired impact on the country's ageing population problem. Nearly fifteen percent of China's population is currently above the age of sixty. And that percentage is expected to rise to 25 percent by 2030, one of the reasons for relaxing the one-child rule in the first place.