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7 billion and counting

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Snow Bai, 38, loves children. Already mother to a four-year-old boy, she wouldn't mind having another child, but 'only in an ideal world'.

In reality, she won't even consider it. Under the one-child policy, she would lose her job as a state employee if she becomes pregnant again. But more to the point, she said, is the high cost of bringing up a child in Beijing.

She and her husband spend about 40,000 yuan (HK$48,700) per year, or 10 per cent of their joint salaries, on sending their son to a private kindergarten.

'And to think of primary, secondary and university education ... we just can't afford another one,' said Bai, an accountant.

'Besides, I don't think I have the time to look after two.'

Bai's predicament is not unusual, especially among the mainland's middle class who in recent years have seen more of their household budgets squeezed by inflation and increasingly unaffordable housing.

As China remains the world's most populous country with 1.34 billion people, it is hard to imagine that only 50 years ago, the population was half its current size - 667 million.

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