A man holds a baby near other relatives at the Great Wall of China. The state wants families to have more children.Credit:Getty
The focus of the projects are promoting marrying,recommending people have children at appropriate ages,encouraging parents to share child-rearing responsibilities and curbing high “bride prices” and other outdated customs.
Cities included in the pilot include the manufacturing hub Guangzhou and Handan in Hebei province. The association already launched projects in 20 cities including Beijing last year,it said.
“The society needs to guide young people more on the concept of marriage and childbirth,” demographer He Yafu told the Communist Party’s tabloid.
The projects come amid a flurry of measures provinces are rolling out tospur people to have children,including tax incentives,housing subsidies,and free or subsidised education for having a third child.
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China implemented a rigid one-child policy from 1980 until 2015,which became the root of many of its demographic challenges that have allowedIndia to become the world’s most populous nation. The limit has since been raised to three children.
India’s population surpassed 1.4286 billion,slightly higher than China’s 1.4257 billion people,according to mid-2023 estimates by the UN’s World Population dashboard.