16 Aug 2022
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| Although Beijing ended its "one-child rule" in 2016 and last year allowed couples to have three children, birth rates have slipped over the past five years. (Photo: AFP/Noel Celis) |
The world's most populous country has been grappling with a looming demographic crisis as it faces a rapidly ageing workforce, slowing economy and its weakest population growth in decades.
Although Beijing ended its "one-child rule" in 2016 and last year allowed couples to have three children, birth rates have slipped over the past five years.
The policy guidelines issued by the National Health Commission Tuesday urge both the central and provincial governments to increase spending on reproductive health and improve childcare services nationwide.
They require local governments to "implement active fertility support measures", including offering subsidies, tax rebates, and better health insurance, as well as education, housing and employment support for young families.
The National Health Authority said it would carry out reproductive health promotion to enhance public awareness while "preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing abortions that are not medically necessary".
All provinces must also ensure they provide enough nurseries for children aged two to three by the end of the year in a bid to reduce a severe shortage of childcare services.
Richer Chinese cities have been doling out tax and housing credits, educational benefits and even cash incentives to encourage women to have more children, and the latest guidelines seek to push all provinces to roll out such measures.
China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was far below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world.
The guidelines come as China's uncompromising "zero-COVID" policy of curbing outbreaks with strict controls on people's lives may have caused profound damage on their desire to have children, demographers say.
The authority said it would guide local governments to gradually include assisted reproductive technology in its national medical system. Technology such as IVF is typically very expensive in China and not accessible to unmarried women.
New births in China, with a population of 1.4 billion, are set to fall to record lows this year, demographers say, dropping below 10 million from last year's 10.6 million babies - which were already 11.5 per cent lower than in 2020.
China's birth rate slipped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people last year - the lowest since records began in 1949, when Communist China was founded, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
China, which imposed a one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, has officially acknowledged it is on the brink of a demographic downturn. It replaced that policy with a two-child policy in 2016, and changed it again in 2021, allowing married couples to have up to three children.
Over the past year authorities have started to introduce measures such as tax deductions, longer maternity leave, enhanced medical insurance, housing subsidies, extra money for a third child and a crackdown on expensive private tutoring.
The guidelines on Tuesday mark the most comprehensive notice at a national level, including the reference to reduce abortions, which have been generally readily accessible for many years.
The authority said the measures were crucial for "promoting the long-term balanced development of the population."
The number of abortions carried out stood above 9.5 million between 2015 to 2019, according to a National Health Commission report published at the end of 2021.
Higher costs of living and a cultural shift as people grow used to smaller families have been cited as reasons behind the lower number of babies.
China's population will begin to shrink by 2025, health officials warned earlier this month.
Although Beijing ended its "one-child rule" in 2016 and last year allowed couples to have three children, birth rates have slipped over the past five years.
The policy guidelines issued by the National Health Commission Tuesday urge both the central and provincial governments to increase spending on reproductive health and improve childcare services nationwide.
They require local governments to "implement active fertility support measures", including offering subsidies, tax rebates, and better health insurance, as well as education, housing and employment support for young families.
The National Health Authority said it would carry out reproductive health promotion to enhance public awareness while "preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing abortions that are not medically necessary".
All provinces must also ensure they provide enough nurseries for children aged two to three by the end of the year in a bid to reduce a severe shortage of childcare services.
Richer Chinese cities have been doling out tax and housing credits, educational benefits and even cash incentives to encourage women to have more children, and the latest guidelines seek to push all provinces to roll out such measures.
China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was far below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world.
The guidelines come as China's uncompromising "zero-COVID" policy of curbing outbreaks with strict controls on people's lives may have caused profound damage on their desire to have children, demographers say.
The authority said it would guide local governments to gradually include assisted reproductive technology in its national medical system. Technology such as IVF is typically very expensive in China and not accessible to unmarried women.
New births in China, with a population of 1.4 billion, are set to fall to record lows this year, demographers say, dropping below 10 million from last year's 10.6 million babies - which were already 11.5 per cent lower than in 2020.
China's birth rate slipped to 7.52 births per 1,000 people last year - the lowest since records began in 1949, when Communist China was founded, according to National Bureau of Statistics data.
China, which imposed a one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, has officially acknowledged it is on the brink of a demographic downturn. It replaced that policy with a two-child policy in 2016, and changed it again in 2021, allowing married couples to have up to three children.
Over the past year authorities have started to introduce measures such as tax deductions, longer maternity leave, enhanced medical insurance, housing subsidies, extra money for a third child and a crackdown on expensive private tutoring.
The guidelines on Tuesday mark the most comprehensive notice at a national level, including the reference to reduce abortions, which have been generally readily accessible for many years.
The authority said the measures were crucial for "promoting the long-term balanced development of the population."
The number of abortions carried out stood above 9.5 million between 2015 to 2019, according to a National Health Commission report published at the end of 2021.
Higher costs of living and a cultural shift as people grow used to smaller families have been cited as reasons behind the lower number of babies.
China's population will begin to shrink by 2025, health officials warned earlier this month.
Source: Agencies/nh
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