Committee Channel | He Dan: Optimize Fertility Support Policies and Incentive Measures to Build a Positive Fertility Security System

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference held its second plenary meeting on the afternoon of the 7th, where members delivered speeches. Xinhua News Agency provided online text and image live coverage.

He Dan, Director of the China Population and Development Research Center:

Dear members, my speech is titled: Optimizing Fertility Support Policies and Incentive Measures to Build a Positive Fertility Guarantee System.

The Fourth Plenary Session of the 20th Central Committee of the Communist Party of China clearly stated that “changes in the population structure pose new challenges to economic development and social governance,” and outlined strategic tasks and major measures to promote high-quality population development, pointing the way for addressing the challenges of low fertility rates and declining birth rates in the new era.

China’s low fertility rate and declining birth rate are characterized by long-term and widespread trends. Having fewer children and valuing quality over quantity has become the mainstream view among young generations. Rapid urbanization, continuous improvement of basic public services, and the gradual popularization of higher education exert strong structural pressure on fertility levels. Trends such as delayed marriage and childbearing, declining marriage numbers, and shrinking reproductive-age female populations continue to accumulate, posing significant challenges to stabilizing the number of new births. In response to these regular changes, we should adopt a calm and proactive attitude to understand, adapt to, and lead the new normal of population development, establish and improve fertility support policy systems, promote early childhood development, and strive to achieve moderate fertility levels and population scale.

The Central Committee of the Communist Party of China attaches great importance to the issue of declining birth rates, incorporating fertility support and improving children’s development levels into the core of high-quality population development. Since 2021, various regions have actively explored and basically formed a framework of fertility support policies. Childcare subsidies and universal childcare services have been widely welcomed by the public and positively evaluated by all sectors of society. However, there are still many challenges in improving the fertility support policy system and incentive mechanisms, and in establishing sound early childhood development support systems. Some guiding policies have not been effectively implemented, and the long-term mechanisms of some local policies are not yet sound, making it difficult for the public to form stable family development expectations. Several issues deserve special attention: First, some regions focus solely on short-term stimulation of fertility through cash subsidies, neglecting the long-term effects of service system construction on family childcare support. Second, there are significant disparities in early childhood development between urban and rural areas and across regions; rural and resource-scarce areas lack sufficient investment in early childhood care, which is detrimental to overall population quality improvement. Third, the basic systems for fertility guarantee that align with high-quality population development are still in the early stages, with insufficient development of services related to marriage, fertility, and childcare.

Therefore, the following suggestions are proposed:

1. Persist in investing at the starting point of life, solidify the foundation of China’s modernization human resources. Systematically reshaping the fertility support policy system is a fundamental project to promote high-quality population development. We should abandon the traditional view that universal family welfare is a social burden, and instead establish the positive concept that fertility support is an investment in human capital. Optimize educational resource allocation, promote curriculum reform, and build a “big education” pattern where schools, families, and society work together to reduce educational anxiety and ease the reluctance to have children.

2. Focus on the difficulties of “not being able to have, unable to raise, and no one to care” in families, and establish sound systems for reproductive health, fertility insurance, and care services. Strengthen fertility protection by including infertility testing and assisted reproductive technology costs into medical insurance coverage. Continue expanding fertility insurance coverage and explore including urban and rural residents in the保障范围. Improve childcare subsidy policies, explore implementing maternity and preschool subsidies, and form comprehensive economic support policies for family childcare, effectively reducing family burdens related to childbirth and upbringing. Establish universal childcare operation subsidy systems and promote early childhood development support projects in rural areas.

3. Reduce the pressure of balancing work and family life, and create a family-friendly society. Improve the quality of basic fertility services, enhance pediatric and obstetric diagnosis and treatment environments, and provide family companionship and support. Promote childbirth pain relief and labor analgesia programs. Strengthen supporting coordination, leverage the comprehensive effects of social security and employment policies. Use popular and appealing methods among youth to advocate positive views on marriage and childbirth, implement new marriage and childbirth culture initiatives into thousands of households, and foster a social environment and public opinion that respect fertility and are family-friendly.

(Edited by: Wen Jing)

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