China calls for having children with ‘love messages’

Family planning officials in the historic Chinese city of Xian took a new step this week to boost the country’s falling birth rate by sending messages wishing residents “love, marriage and childbirth” and “good fertility.”

The message, reported by local media including China Newsweek’s official Weibo account, coincided with the Qixi festival on August 22, a traditional Chinese holiday celebrating love and romance, also known as Valentine’s Day.

The message was sent by the Xian Health Commission and the Xian Family Planning Association. “Carrying on the blood of China and sharing the important task of rejuvenation” was included in the Weibo post in China Newsweek. The message claimed that marriage and childbearing should take place at the “proper age”, but gave no further details.

POPULATION REDUCTION MOVES THE GOVERNMENT

This message comes at a time when the Chinese government is trying to encourage young couples to have children and a growing number of women are putting off having children or choosing not to have children at all. Many women cite the high cost of raising children, the difficulty of continuing their careers, gender discrimination and not wanting to marry as the main reasons for not wanting children.

Concerned that China’s population is shrinking for the first time in six decades and aging rapidly, government policy advisers suggested in March that single women should have access to egg freezing and IVF treatment, among other services. (Reuters)