Shandong’s birth rate set to soar after China’s new three-child policy
China’s second-most populous province Shandong is expected to see the highest population growth in the country following the announcement of the three-child policy on Monday.The policy shift came after China’s latest national census indicated a significant drop in births, with 12 million babies born in 2020, 2.65 million fewer than in 2019.
A China Business Network report indicated that second-child families, particularly those with parents born in the 1980s, would be the major supporters of the new policy. According to the country’s National Bureau of Statistics, over 20 million babies were born every year between 1981 and 1997. In the 1980s, the total number of births was 220 million, a 4.23 million increase compared to the 1970s.
Peng Peng, the executive committee chairperson from the Guangdong Society Of Economic Reform, had reservations about the new policy.”Many families are at ease after having a second child … they would not feel the urge to have a third child, especially when having three children would put the family under financial and housing pressure,” Peng said. “Therefore, the three-child policy would not be as effective as the two-child policy in terms of increasing the birth rate.”
According to 2019 statistics, provinces in the northwestern, southwestern and southern regions of China had higher population growth rates. Shandong and Henan provinces also saw a baby boom following the implementation of two-children policy in 2016.
As the country’s third-largest province by economic output, Shandong had 1.77 million newborns in 2016, of which 63.3% were the second child of their families. The province’s birth rate made up 10% of China’s yearly birth rate.
The latest Census showed that Shandong has the second-highest population in China, with over 100 million residents making up 7.19% of the country’s total population.
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