Two-Child Policy: More to be done to help demographic shift

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Three and a half year into China's two-child policy, many families are happily welcoming second-borns into the world. But all-in-all, new births are down nationwide. Many question whether the policy is helping to solve the nation's demographic shift, and alleviate China's rapidly aging population. CGTN's Xia Ruixue reports.

Having two kids has always been a dream for 33-year-old Jiang Xingang. In 2017, his dream came true when his second daughter was born.

Both Jiang and his wife were the only children in their families. They know how hard it will be to take care of four seniors and kids. They don't want their children to bear the same burdens in the future. So with the relaxation of the one-child policy three years ago, they started preparing to have one more child.

JIANG XINGANG ZHENGZHOU "As the only child in the family, I felt very lonely. I hope my children have someone to accompany and to share their happiness and sorrows. I believe that's what most parents who have two children want."

Many Chinese want to have more children, while some couples don't want even one. New births in China fell to 15.23 million last year, compared to 17.86 million in 2016 and 17.23 million the following year. Since early 2016, China has allowed all married couples to have two children. It hopes to cope with the nation's demographic shift.

ZHANG YUANZHEN VICE PRINCIPAL, HENAN HEALTH CARE COLLEGE "Chinese women's social statuses keep rising. That's one of the reasons why we have declining fertility rates. Now we can see the two-child policy is working."

At the same time, China faces a rapidly aging population. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, China had 158.31 million people aged 60 or over in 2018, while people older than 65 accounted for 11.4 percent of the population.

XIA RUIXUE ZHENGZHOU "China is aging. Many may attribute it to the decades-long family planning policy. And they believe the adoption of the two-child policy will solve the problem."

Many parents call for having as many babies as they want. But experts say that won't stop the aging problem, at least not quickly. They say demographic shifts are a complicated issue, one that requires time and more policies to work together.

Xia Ruixue, CGTN, Zhengzhou, Henan province.