Experts warn China's ageing population will put huge pressure on its health and social security system, while a dwindling workforce could also severely limit growth for the world's second largest economy in the coming decades.

The mammoth property sector, on the other hand, has seen easing of some rules since the beginning of this year, paving the way for debt-laden developers to find their feet after having come close to the brink of collapse.

SHANGHAI, Feb 23 (Reuters) - The cost of raising a child in China stands at nearly seven times its per capita GDP, far more than in the United States and Japan, highlighting the challenges facing Chinese policymakers as they try to tackle rapidly declining birth rates, new research showed.

They will join other heavy hitters, including Rishi himself, Sajid Javid and Michael Gove, representing a formidable and influential group who could cause trouble for Ms Truss in the coming weeks and months.

The drama continued outside of the Cabinet as veterans affairs minister Johnny Mercer's wife branded the new PM an 'imbecile' for axing him, before later admitting she was 'bitter' over the decision and said she needed '24 hours'.

The Daily Mail's Richard Eden has revealed that the burpee-loving Body Coach guru, 37, who was awarded an MBE at Windsor Castle for his services to fitness, added £20million to the bottom line at his fitness empire last year.

Child rearing costs are even higher in China's major cities, reaching more than 1 million yuan in Shanghai and 969,000 yuan in Beijing.

Birth rates in the two cities are even lower than the national average.

She has carried out a number of solo engagements, as well as ones undertaken alongside her parents and beloved sister.    During the school holidays, Leonor returns home to Spain where she carries out royal duties.

Beijing-based YuWa Population Research Institute said in a report published on Tuesday that the average cost of raising a child to the age of 18 in China in 2019 stood at 485,000 yuan ($76,629) for a first child, 6.9 times China's per capita GDP that year.

Both technology and property sectors saw a plunge in their revenues and massive sell-off in their stocks and bonds, as new rules curbing their businesses were framed, hefty penalties for violations imposed, and new capital raising plans thwarted.

Dominic Raab was among the first to reveal his fate as he tweeted that he had been evicted from his roles as justice secretary and Deputy PM - with Ms Truss's 'best friend' Therese Coffey confirmed as taking the latter title along with the health brief.

On Weibo, another user writing under the name Lawyer Zhang, said that action needed to be taken to address the disproportionate burden faced by women, who are expected to give birth and raise children as part of their natural "motherhood".

Kemi Badenoch's loyalty was also rewarded as she is named International Trade Secretary, while Kit Malthouse becomes Education Secretary.  Ben Wallace remains Defence Secretary after backing her campaign and Brandon Lewis is made Justice Secretary, while Boris Johnson loyalist Jacob Rees Mogg is business secretary.

"The property sector is seen as a key driver for economic growth, because it leads to investment, it leads to purchase of houses, it leads to property development, but it also carries a lot of demand for other sectors like commodities," he said.

Although new policies allow families to have as many as three children, China's birth rate dropped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people in 2021, the lowest since the National Bureau of Statistics began recording the data in 1949.

China would need to spend at least 5% of its annual GDP to create incentives for couples to have more children, including education subsidies, preferential mortgage rates, tax breaks, equal paternity and maternity leave, as well as the construction of more childcare centres, it added.

The talented teenager, who has inherited her mother's polished sense of style, is also understood to be an accomplished cellist, and has honed her skills in tennis, sailing and gymnastics at an American summer camp.

Leonor and Sofia proved they have both inherited their mother's understated style. Leonor, fix it up strategies who is heir to the Spanish throne, donned a simple black vest top, while Sofia opted for a breezy long-sleeved blue tunic. 

The regulatory respite being given to the property sector was likely driven by regulators' concerns about the knock-on effects of the common prosperity measures on the broader economy, according to Montufar-Helu.

Since the end of last year, however, Beijing has taken a number of initiatives to help revive the cooling property sector, which included making it easier for large and state-owned developers to raise fund, easing the escrow accounts for pre-sale funds and allowing some local governments to lower mortgage rates and down-payment ratios.

you would certainly be of the view that the Chinese government is really reining down on tech and they have relaxed their approach towards the property sector," said Alfredo Montufar-Helu, director of the Economist Intelligence Corporate Network. "If you were only to look at the regulatory developments ...