China is considering additional measures to increase its flag birth rate, more than four years after the end of its controversial one-child policy
BEIJING – China is considering additional measures to increase its flag birth rate, more than four years after ending its controversial one-child policy.
For decades, China has imposed strict controls on additional births in the name of conserving scarce resources for its burgeoning economy. But his staggering birth rate is now seen as a major threat to economic progress and social stability.
The National Health Commission on Thursday issued a statement saying it would conduct research to further stimulate the birth potential.
It is said that the initiative will first focus on the northeast of China, the former industrial heartland of the country that has deteriorated a large population as young people and families elsewhere move to better opportunities. The region, consisting of the three provinces of Liaoning, Jilin and Heilongjiang, has a total population decline for the seventh consecutive year by 427,300 in 2019 in 2018.
Authorities said last week that registered new births fell by 15.3% to just 10 million last year.
China abandoned its policy on one child in 2016 to allow families to have an additional child. However, the move had only a temporary effect on the birth rate, and many couples cite the high cost of raising children and other economic and social barriers to not having more children.
Experts called for further reforms due to economic concerns and the problem of the aging population.
China had 1.34 billion people in 2010 with an annual growth rate of 0.57%, up from 1.07% a decade earlier, according to data from the Bureau of Statistics. The latest census was conducted in the second half of last year and the results have not yet been announced.
According to a UN report, India will conquer China by 2027 as the world’s most populous country.
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This story has been corrected to show that authorities announced the new birth rates last week, not this week.