Economics
In the News
Demographics - China switches to a 3-child policy
4th June 2021
Important news that China is looking to encourage couples to have more children, with a relaxation of the current two-child policy in favour of a three-child policy.
Animated population tree shows how China's population is set to shrink and age in the coming decades. China is currently obsessed with getting rich before it gets old. Japan managed that. If China fails in this, the old population is at big risk. Source: https://t.co/Gj83cLMeWw pic.twitter.com/18mJmJLip3
— Simon Kuestenmacher (@simongerman600) June 2, 2021
Whilst it will offer families choice, particularly in rural areas - although to be fair, I suspect that there's a already fairly lax monitoring in many regions - it's unlikely to tackle China's structural demographic problems: an ageing population and a shrinking workforce.
According to recent data, 12 million babies were born in China during 2020, an 18 percent decline on the 14.6 millon births recorded in 2019. The country's fertility rate now stands at 1.3 children per mother, below the 2.1 threshold necessary for a stable population.

In this video interview, Gilliam Collinsworth Hamilton from GaveKal assesses the various policy levers that the authorities can pull to stop the Chinese nation getting smaller
In this video interview, Gilliam Collinsworth Hamilton assesses the various policy levers that the authorities can pull to stop the Chinese nation getting smaller. #china #census #chinacensus #demographics #aging #population https://t.co/c59XPolwoC
— Gavekal (@Gavekal) June 4, 2021
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