beijing [China]Aug 13 (ANI): Amid trends suggesting a shrinking population in China, a county in Wenzhou has announced plans to provide families with a childcare allowance to encourage more births.
According to local media, families with two children will receive 500 yuan (74 USD) per month for each under three years old, while couples who have three children will receive 1,000 yuan per child in Wenzhou’s Longwan district.
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The expert pointed out that the demographic crisis in China is even worse than the official data provided by the country.
The Chinese population of the 10 provincial-level regions shrunk in 2021, according to data released by statistical authorities.
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However, some question the veracity of the figures.
“Official numbers for new births aren’t accurate. In fact, the gap between the birth rate and the death rate is narrowing, and you have such a narrow margin between the two. [official] the natural growth rate is not real. It’s basically propaganda,” said Kent Deng, professor of economic history at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
China recorded a birth rate of 0.752% and a death rate of 0.718%, resulting in a natural growth rate of 0.034%, according to the National Bureau of Statistics. In 2020, the natural growth rate was 0.145%, according to Nikkei Asia.
Kent Deng also said that any change that weakens the People’s Liberation Army, including population decline, will weaken the power of the Communist Party in the People’s Republic of China (PRC).
“From the perspective of the PRC, the party means the military to safeguard China’s national sovereignty. The military is also used to maintain China’s internal peace or stability. Anything that weakens the “Army will automatically weaken the power of the party. Who is running China? I won’t say the party, but the military is running China,” he said.
China’s population reached 1.41 billion at the end of 2021, up 480,000 from a year earlier, according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Notably, the continued decline in the number of marriage registrations in China has led to falling birth rates, according to reports, which add that this will eventually lead to the demographic problem of the world’s second-largest economy.
Last year, the number of marriages in China fell to its lowest level in 36 years, adding to the demographic problem of the world’s second-largest economy. According to the data, analysts predict this will contribute to the country’s declining birth rate.
Beijing last year released a new population and family planning law that allows Chinese couples to have three children, ostensibly responding to couples’ refusal to have additional children due to rising costs.
The decision to allow the third child was implemented after the once-a-decade census in 2020 showed China’s population growing at the slowest rate in history, reaching 1.412 billion people.
According to census data, China’s demographic problem is expected to worsen as the over-60s rose 18.7 percent to 264 million people.
China’s overall population has grown 5.8% since 2000, from 1.27 billion to 1.34 billion, compared with a rate of 11.7%, or nearly double, in the 1990 and 2000 censuses ( Hvistendahl, 2011), reported the Singapore Post. (ANI)
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