BEIJING – China should enhance incentives for its people to build families and boost the birth rate as its now-falling population could threaten its economy, according to a Chinese family planning expert.

Mainland China’s population fell by 850,000 in 2022 – the first decline since 1961 – to 1.42 billion, the government said in January, potentially falling behind India’s as the world’s largest. That signals the start of a likely long decline, with profound implications for its economy and the world.

Mr Wang Pei’an, deputy director of the China Family Planning Association, said on Saturday that more tax incentives should be created based on the family unit that could encourage births.

Speaking at the third Chinese and Development Forum in Beijing, Mr Wang cited a growing trend among younger generations to forestall having children. He called for more incentives around employment, medical care, social security and housing that could encourage people to build families.

The government imposed a one-child policy on families in much of China between 1980 and 2015. But with the population now falling, the authorities are scrambling to prop up the birth rate.

In calling for more supportive measures, health officials cite factors such as worries over expenses and younger women focusing on their careers.

The average Chinese household shrank to 2.62 people in 2020, a decrease of 0.48 from 2010, according to a survey cited by state broadcaster CCTV.

The 2021 survey found that women born in the 1990s felt the ideal number of kids to have was 1.54, while for those born in the 2000s, it was just 1.19. The percentage of women who have never had children surged to nearly 10 per cent in 2020, from 6.1 per cent in 2015.

“In China, the level of maternity protection is still very low,” Mr Wang said, adding that without the effort to cultivate a need for marriage and children, it would be extremely difficult to boost fertility levels.

The average age when a woman first marries rose from 22 in the 1980s, to 26.3 in 2020, and the age of first childbearing has been delayed to 27.2 years, according to CCTV.

Mr Wang pointed to a 2021 survey by the China Population and Development Research Centre, showing that less than 70 per cent of women under the age of 35 thought life was complete only when one had children. REUTERS