China to tackle the nation’s falling birthrate with a new ‘childbearing culture’

Hong Kong: China has decided to create a ‘new era’ of marriage and childbearing culture in select cities to reverse the population decline in the nation.

China's Family Planning Association is implementing a pilot project in more than 20 cities to ‘foster a friendly child bearing environment’, according to NDTV.

The project will encourage women to marry and have children, China’s Global Times reported on Monday.

The national body, which is tasked to carry out the government's population and fertility measures, will encourage people to marry and beget children at optimum ages.

It will urge parents to share child-rearing responsibilities, and do away with outdated customs including high ‘bride prices’, according to the report.

The cities to come under the project are manufacturing hub including Guangzhou and Handan in China's Hebei province.

The project has been underway in 20 cities including Beijing since last year, the report said.

Global Times quoted demographer He Yafu saying that ‘The society need to guide young people more on the concept of marriage and childbirth.’

China has responded seriously to the country’s falling birth rate by offering to parents tax incentives, housing subsidies, and free or subsidised education for a third child.

China pursued a rigid one-child policy from 1980 until 2015 when the authorities began to notice fall in population and limit has since been raised to three children.

The new project has to do with China’s concern about not being able to fill in young people for its rapidly ageing population.

The political advisers in March told the communist regime to allow ‘single and unmarried women to have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment.’