China Implements Population Rate Increase Policy

Two nurses treated and washed a newborn at the San Jiu hospital in Qiqihar, China, Thursday (16/5). (ANTARA/Aria Cindyara)

JAKARTA - The Chinese government has implemented a policy to increase the rate of the population that has decreased over the past few years.

According to China's Head of Obstetrics and Gynecology Section of San Jiu Hospital in Qiqihar City, Zhang Wenqin, the government has made plans to increase the country's population number, which was also conveyed to hospitals.

"Now (the community) may give birth to second and third children. Each of the children has assistance from the government," he explained as quoted by ANTARA, Thursday, May 16.

The assistance is in the form of funding, but until now there has been no final decision regarding the nominal for each child, namely the second child and third child.

As previously reported, China's population has reportedly shrunk in two consecutive years since 2022.

The Chinese Bureau of Statistics said the country's birth rate hit a record low in 2023. While the death toll hit record highs in more than half a century.

The number of new babies born in China in 2023 is said to have reached 9.02 million, down 5.6 percent from 2022 which was recorded at 9.56 million.

The birth rate in China in 2023 hit a record low since records began in 1949, at 6.39 per 1,000 people.

This figure shows a decline from 6.77 births per 1,000 people in 2022.

Meanwhile, especially at the San Jiu Hospital, Qiqihar recorded a birth rate of 0.1 percent. The hospital also ensures that the nutrition of babies and children is fulfilled through various programs from pregnancy to post-natal.