Beijing: Chinese President Xi Jinping vowed to enact policies to boost birth rate in the country as policymakers worry that an imminent decline in the country’s population could hurt the world’s second-biggest economy.
Xi told some 2,300 delegates in a speech opening the once-in-five-year Communist Party Congress in Beijing that “We will establish a policy system to boost birth rates and pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population ageing.”
The authorities imposed a one-child policy from 1980 to 2015, later switching to a three child policy, acknowledging the nation is on the brink of a demographic downturn. Its fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was below the 2.1 OECD standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world.
Demographers predict that despite China having the most people (1. 4 billion), birth rates will reach historic lows this year, dipping below 10 million from 10.6 million new born last year and already down 11.5% from 2020.
The government has implemented policies during the past year or two that include tax discounts, extended maternity leave, improved medical insurance, housing subsidies, more funding for a third child, and restrictions on high-priced private tutoring. The willingness to have children is still the lowest in the world among Chinese women, according to a study released in February by the think tank YuWa Population Research.
Demographers say measures taken so far are not enough. They cite high education costs, low wages and long working hours as issues that still need to be addressed, along with Covid-19 policies and economic growth concerns.
