China's birth rate is falling despite end of one-child policy

The total annual number of births in China fell in 2017, a sign that the government's relaxation of the one-child policy is not likely to lead to a significant increase in the country's birth rate, the Financial Times reports. There were 17.2 million births in China last year, down from 17.9 million in 2016, according to data from the National Bureau of Statistics released Thursday.