China will enact policies to boost birth rate amid declining population, says Xi Jinping

In an effort to boost the declining population due to the decades of enacting the controversial one-child law, China will introduce new policies to improve the country's birth rate, President Xi Jinping vowed at the opening of the 20th Party Congress as he is poised to secure the third term in power. His remarks came as the Chinese policymakers expressed concerns about the "imminent decline" in China's population, which they predict will hurt the world's second-biggest economy in the worst way, according to reports.

Xi struggles to tackle China's critically lower birth rates

Beijing had strictly imposed a one-child policy since 1980 that was in effect until 2015. Amid concerns about the impact on the demographic framework, the Chinese Communist Party later introduced the three-child policy that it later scrapped. China's Xi has since been struggling to tackle the critically lower birth rates. An estimated 10.62 million babies were born in Beijing last year, as per the National Bureau of Statistics. This figure has significantly dipped compared to 12.02 million in 2020 and was the lowest-ever recorded birth rate in the history of China.

The fertility rate of 1.16 calculated in 2021 was also found to be lower than the 2.1 OECD standard needed for a stable population. The population in China, aged twenties and early thirties have been reluctant to enter into parenthood, and the “all-powerful” Communist Party of China seems powerless to do anything about it. And in addition to that problem, men far outnumber women in China, especially in rural areas, and China now has 30 million “surplus” men that critically outnumber the women.

"We will establish a policy system to boost birth rates and pursue a proactive national strategy in response to population ageing," Xi was reported as saying to a delegation of 2,300 people at the Communist Party Congress in Beijing.

In order to encourage young couples to start a family, the Chinese Communist government also came up with lucrative policies such as flexible working arrangements and preferential housing. Chinese Cabinet reportedly announced that it will opt for an integrated approach to make it easier for couples to marry and have up to three children. The Chinese government asked employers to provide couples with flexible working hours as well as directed companies to provide an option for working from home for those who have children.