중 "No Surrender of No.1 Population Spot"... Housing Purchase Benefits for Multi-Child Families

Concerns Over Population Decline Within 3 Years Prompt 17 Ministries to Develop Childbirth Promotion Policies
Average Number of Children per Fertile Woman Is 1.64... Uncertain If Birth Rates Will Increase

[Asia Economy Senior Reporter Cho Young-shin] Facing the issues of low birth rates and population aging, the Chinese government has introduced a policy that gives preferential treatment to households with more than one child when purchasing housing. Additionally, detailed support policies to encourage childbirth were unveiled, including improvements to maternity leave and social security insurance systems, child education support, further development of postpartum care and nursing systems, and employment support for multi-child families.

Photo by Global Times capture

According to Chinese media such as the state-run Global Times and the Maeil Business Newspaper on the 17th, the National Health Commission of China stated that low birth rates and aging in Chinese society are severe, and announced various population policies covering finance, taxation, housing, education, and employment.

Seventeen government departments participated in this childbirth promotion policy, which Chinese media evaluated as a clear reflection of the Chinese government's concerns about population decline and low birth rates.

Chinese media reported that population decline is expected before 2025, and this is the first time that 17 departments have jointly issued childbirth measures. This underscores the seriousness of China's low birth rate problem. The National Health Commission revealed that the average number of children per woman of childbearing age in China last year was 1.64, down from 1.76 five years earlier in 2017.

The Chinese government plans to actively support the three-child policy and create a childbirth-friendly social atmosphere. To this end, it will further develop postpartum care and nursing systems and strengthen guarantees for maternity leave and social insurance.

In particular, a housing priority purchase policy will be established and supported for families with one or more children.

Huang Won-jung, a Chinese population statistics expert, said, "More robust and systematic policies are needed, such as issuing government bonds to secure funds for childbirth subsidies and adjusting real estate development. Real estate policies favorable to families preparing housing will help alleviate the pressure of population decline."

Along with this, more detailed policies will be prepared to address practical issues such as additional support for child education and employment support for multi-child families.

Liang Jianzhang, a professor at Peking University, emphasized, "To raise China's birth rate from the current 1.3 to 2.1, 10% of the gross domestic product (GDP) must be spent on childbirth promotion." He added, "Various support policies alone cannot stop population decline," and proposed, "Support of 1 million yuan (approximately 193 million KRW) per newborn is necessary."

According to the Global Times, in Longwan District, Wenzhou City, Zhejiang Province, families with a second child receive 1,000 yuan (about 190,000 KRW) monthly, and families with a third child receive 3,000 yuan monthly for three years.

In May last year, the Central Political Bureau of the Chinese Communist Party deliberated on the "Decision on Improving Family Planning Policies and Long-term Population Balanced Development," attended by General Secretary Xi Jinping. China changed its one-child policy, which lasted over 40 years, to a two-child policy in 2016 and introduced a three-child policy in 2021, but has not been able to stop the decline in birth rates.

Within China, there are forecasts that the population will experience negative growth within the next three years and that China will lose its position as the most populous country to India.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.