Do more babies mean a better economy?

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James Liang, the chairman of the leading travel services provider Ctrip, said China should subsidize people to have more babies. Meanwhile, he introduced a new innovation for childcare called “Mom Sharing”.

China’s aging population is starting to emerge. When the people born in the 90s become of prime age, China's economy will hit a bump because of the amount of underrepresented people. James said it is essential for the government to, not only introduce policies to lift birth rates, but also give either cash support or tax deductions to people who have extra children.

“There have many countries successfully raising birth rates by spending a lot of money, about three to five percent of GDP accumulated. And China, as a novice, needs to spend at least two percent of GDP, which accounts for two trillion yuan because China has a worse situation than most other countries,” James added.

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There's also another problem: New parents should have full time work and also take care of their children. Therefore, the start-up “Mom Sharing” program would help moms take care of their children, and it would be based in China's high neighborhood density.

“Mom Sharing could provide moms, who live in the neighborhood, to come to take care of the kids for a small fee. With this, other moms could continue to do their professional career,” James said.

However, it remains unknown whether the “Mom Sharing” program applies to the shared economy of the future. There are still lots of legal issues to face, and James said the government should be optimistic for this program.