China's population falls for a third consecutive year

Zhou Yunchinese actress

Much of China's population decline is rooted in entrenched structural reasons: Without fundamental structural transformations - from enhancing the social safety net to eliminating gender discrimination - the trend of population decline cannot be reversed,

said Yun Zhou, an assistant professor of sociology at the University of Michigan

We must be aware that the adverse effects brought by the external environment are increasing, the domestic demands are insufficient, some enterprises have difficulties in production and operation, and the economy is still facing difficulties and challenges,

the bureau said in its report

As most Chinese still adhere to the tradition of marrying before having children, the rise in marriages is expected to boost the birth rate within one to two years,

Yuan said

To make sure they’re in a strong position to weather the uncertainty around US tariffs, and to make sure consumers don’t get stuck, they need to do more with policy through February and March,

Westpac senior economist Elliot Clarke said

In the future, I hope there can be more support from the society, such as increased childcare facilities and better regulated childcare service industry,

Shen added

This uptick is unlikely to last, as the population of childbearing-age women is projected to decline sharply in the coming decades,

said Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore's East Asian Institute

Besides, the Year of the Dragon carries positive connotations,

Tang added

Even if China could magically increase the fertility rate in a very short period of time to 2.1, in our calculation it would still take between 50 [and] 70 years to change this decline to the positive,

she said

The end of the policy in December 2022 led to a 12 per cent increase in marriages in 2023, which means there was a temporary rebound in births in 2024 compared to 2023,

he said