JAKARTA - China plans to take new steps to encourage more births and tackle an aging population. The Chinese government wants to undertake the program quickly as part of its "five-year plan" 2021-2025.
Quoting Reuters on Monday, November 23, China will offer extensive financial and policy support to encourage couples to have more children, official experts say. "A more inclusive population policy will be introduced to improve fertility, workforce quality and population structure," said Yuan Xin, Vice President of the Chinese Population Association.
China introduced a controversial "one-child policy" in 1978, saying it attempts to reduce poverty and develop an economy damaged by rapid population growth, especially in rural areas.
In 2016, the world's most populous country decided to loosen restrictions and allow couples to have two children in a bid to cope with a rapid increase in the number of parents and a dwindling workforce. Some experts say we must now remove all restrictions completely.
In China, the total population aged 60 or over reached 254 million at the end of 2019, accounting for 18.1% of the population. That number is expected to increase to 300 million by 2025 and 400 million by 2035. This puts enormous pressure on the country's health and social care systems, demographers say.
Demographers also estimate that under current trends, the number of the working-age population could decline to 200 million by 2050. Despite the easing of the one-child policy in 2016, the number of live births per 1,000 people fell to a record low of 10.48 last year, down from 10.94 in 2018.
Policies aimed at suppressing population growth should be replaced by systems designed to increase fertility, said the Legal Daily, citing government experts.
"To proactively tackle the aging population, urgent action is needed to reform our country's family planning policies and free up fertility," said Zheng Bingwen, an expert from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
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