China with Few Children: 20,000 Kindergartens Closed in Two Years

In China, which is struggling with low birth rates, it has been identified that more than 20,000 kindergartens have closed over the past two years.

On the 26th, Chinese economic media Caijing cited statistics from the Ministry of Education of China, reporting that as of the end of last year, the number of kindergartens in China was counted at 274,400, a decrease of 20,410 from two years ago. Two years ago, the number had decreased by 5,610 (1.9%) compared to the previous year, marking the first decline since 2008. Last year, 14,800 kindergartens ceased operations.

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This phenomenon appears to be related to the decline in birth rates. Previously, following the implementation of the comprehensive two-child policy in China, the number of births in 2016 and 2017 both exceeded 17 million, with 18.83 million births in 2016 alone. However, as the effect of the two-child policy diminished, the number of births dropped to 15.23 million in 2018, and continued to decline to 14.65 million in 2019 and 12 million in 2020.

The number of kindergartens closing is expected to increase further. The birth population continued to decline to 10.62 million in 2021, 9.56 million in 2022, and 9.02 million in 2023. Additionally, it is anticipated that more elementary, middle, and high schools will close over time. Professor Chao Jinzhong of Beijing Normal University predicted, "By 2035, the demand for elementary and middle schools nationwide will be 92,800 and 47,900 respectively, which is a decrease of 51,400 and 3,800 compared to 2020."

Previously, as a measure against low birth rates, there was a proposal in China to shorten the current 12-year compulsory education system to 9 years. At the annual major political event, the Two Sessions, held on the 6th, Hong Mingzhi, a member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, proposed an education reform plan to shorten elementary school from 6 years to 5 years, middle school from 3 years to 2 years, and high school from 3 years to 2 years, each by one year. If this reform is implemented, children would enter elementary school at age 6 and graduate from high school at age 15. If they proceed to university and graduate immediately, they could enter society at age 19.

In addition, there was also a suggestion to lower the legal marriage age to 18. Currently, in China, the legal marriage age is 22 for men and 20 for women.

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