China Launches Ambitious National Plan to Reverse Birth Rate Collapse
The director of China’s National Health Commission (NHC) announced during a press conference Monday that the Communist Party will be investing heavily in programs intended to raise the birth rate, particularly in expanding access to pediatric care and child care for working families.
The ambitious program is part of the Communist Party’s “15th Five-Year Plan” to improve the strength of the state generally, which emphasized the need to encourage Chinese citizens to marry and start large families. China has documented a dramatic decline in its birth rate over the past decade, defying the government’s decision to do away with the Mao Zedong-era “one-child policy” in 2015 and ultimately allowing families up to three children before forced government abortions and sterilization.
Despite the legal approval to reproduce, many Chinese citizens have foregone marrying and building families. China’s birth rate hit record lows in 2025, according to official government statistics, and China lost its status as the world’s most populous nation to India in 2023. Complicating factors is the reality of a much more substantial male than female population – estimates suggest China is home to about 33 more men than women – as a result of parents killing girl babies during the “one-child policy” era to try again for a more prestigious son.
Chinese statistics authorities announced in January that the population of China at the end of 2025 was 1.404 billion, down 3 million from the prior year. The birth rate declined 17 percent in a year, resulting in under 8 million births in 2025. Some experts attributed the decline to 2025 mostly overlapping with the Year of the Snake, which many Chinese parents consider inauspicious for giving birth.
Despite the years of discouraging statistics, NHC chief Lei Haichao attempted to present a more optimistic take on the nation’s demographic future during his remarks on Monday, offered to reporters during an event hosted by the country’s State Council Information Office, a formal government propaganda wing. Lei insisted that China was not alone in seeing its birth rate decline, especially among countries with rapid industrialization and growing economies. (Read more from “China Launches Ambitious National Plan to Reverse Birth Rate Collapse” HERE)
