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China aims to stabilise number of new births with policy support
Reuters, Beijing
Published: 23 Oct 2026, 09:54 PM
A woman holds a baby outside a supermarket in Qinzhou, Guangxi autonomous region, China on 12 April 2021. Photo: Reuters
China should offer more support to families to stabilise the number of new births, the cabinet said on Friday, as policymakers seek to address the country's population decline and record-low birth rate.
The government should refine policies including those
related to marriage, childbirth, child-rearing and education, and optimise
taxation, social security and housing to build a "fertility-friendly
society", the State Council, or cabinet, said at a meeting, according to a
readout aired by state television.
China's population fell for a fourth consecutive year in
2025, and experts have warned that it could decline further.
The number of marriage registrations also dropped by about
7.5% in the first half of 2026 compared with the same period last year, according
to official data.
The State Council's pledges are a sign that policymakers are concerned about the strain a shrinking and ageing population could put on the country's social insurance system and overall economic growth, which has been weighed down by weak domestic consumer demand.
"Population is the foundational condition for economic
and social development," officials said in the meeting, calling for
efforts so that "high-quality population development" could better
support "high-quality economic and social development."
Authorities have in recent years stepped up fiscal support
for boosting births, including rolling out a nationwide childcare subsidy
programme and waiving or cutting pre-school tuition fees. They have also vowed
to foster "positive attitudes towards marriage and childbearing."
The cabinet meeting also called for making basic public
services more equal, echoing the government's moves to reform a decades-long
household registration system so that workers who migrated from rural farms to
cities can access more urban public services, including enrolling their
children in public schools in the city.