As China’s population continues its steady decline, experts have offered several suggestions for how to arrest the slide – but nearly all agree a cautious and systematic approach carries the best chances for success.
China’s population is expected to plunge by 20 million to 1.39 billion by 2035, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), after it suffered a second consecutive annual decline in 2023.
Chinese are debating a superstitious belief that the coming lunar year will bode badly for marriages, and the Ministry of Civil Affairs is paying attention.
Over 51 per cent of people aged between 25 and 29 in China remained single in 2022, while a plunge in the number of babies born as a second child dragged down the annual fertility rate.
Survey by the Institute of Public Policy at the South China University of Technology says China should focus on fertility services, instead of birth rates as it seeks solutions to its population crisis.