The scheme is China's first nationwide subsidy of its kind as the government tries to tackle a looming demographic crisis.

Parents in China are being offered 3,600 yuan (£375; $500) a year for each of their children under the age of three in the government’s first nationwide subsidy aimed at boosting birth rates.

The country’s birth rate has been falling, even after the ruling Communist Party abolished its controversial one-child policy almost a decade ago.