BEIJING, Oct 23 (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.
(Reporting by Yukun Zhang, Xiuhao Chen, Shi Bu and Ryan Woo; editing by Philippa Fletcher, Aidan Lewis)
