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A couple born in the 1990s are holding their children, a little girl and her 18-month-old older brother, in Shenyang, Liaoning province. Photo by LI HAO / China Daily / Asia News Network
BEIJING – China’s top health authority said Thursday it will support efforts by the country’s northeast region to fend off the challenges posed by low birth rates and declining population by experimenting to fully relax family planning policy. .
The National Health Commission said that northeast China, which encompasses Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning provinces, may submit trial plans to encourage local families to have more than two children, after extensive research and analysis.
The expert investigation will focus on the effects of the policy on local economic development, social stability, environmental and resource strategy and the public service sector, the commission said.
The region also needs to “measure the changes in the local population after the policy change, work on other supportive policies and assess related social risks,” he added.
The comments were posted on the commission’s website in response to a proposal by a deputy of the National People’s Congress, China’s highest legislative body.
The proposal suggested that the northeast area be the first in the country to loosen family planning rules even more, in an attempt to halt the population decline.
China introduced a universal second-child policy allowing all families to have two children in 2016. However, the number of new births per year has remained stagnant, fueling concerns about a rapidly aging workforce.
The situation is most pronounced in the three northeastern provinces, which have had some of the lowest annual fertility rates, contributing to a drop in their overall population in recent years.
In 2019, the number of permanent residents in northeast China fell by 427,000 from the previous year to about 108 million, data from provincial governments shows. Population data for 2020 have not been published.
The commission said that the region’s population decline has been caused by a number of factors related to its regional economic model, industrial structure and social policies.
“For example, as local resources have been depleted and China is improving its industrial development, large numbers of young people are unable to find satisfactory local jobs and have moved to areas where economic growth is better and wages are higher. “, He said. .
So far, the relaxation of the policy has failed to boost the will of local families to have more children.
As a result, the commission said changes in family planning policies are expected to have limited impact on fertility decisions.
“Economic burdens, lack of childcare and professional development for women have become important factors influencing birth rates in the region,” she said.
“To raise fertility levels, it is critical to focus on the demands of the public, address gaps in basic public services, and address practical concerns about childbirth and parenting,” he added.
Lu Jiehua, a professor of population studies at Peking University, told the Beijing Daily that it would be “very difficult” to reverse the downward trend of the population in northeast China. Relaxing family planning rules is likely to produce limited results, but the measure will nonetheless set an example for the rest of the country.
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