No baby boom from easing of China's 1-child policy

The AP reports:

Despite earlier estimates that new exemptions to China's one-child policy would add up to 2 million extra births per year, only 700,000 newly qualified couples applied to have a second child this year, a Chinese official said.

Zhao Yanpei, a senior official at the National Health and Family Planning Commission, told reporters at a briefing this week that although this year's number is lower than expected it is too early to conclude what effect the new policy will have in coming years on China's fertility rate, which is now at 1.5 to 1.6 births per woman.

How creepy is this? You have to "apply" for an exemption.