In a bid to enhance the Chinese population from economic threats posed by aging, the Chinese government vows to provide national support to encourage couples nationwide to have a second child, amid difficulties posed by economic concerns and social security shortfalls.
National Health and Family Planning Commission (NHFPC) deputy minister Wang Pei'an emphasized before a news conference that the new two-child policy, a complete departure from the one-child policy, has successfully resulted in the rise of Chinese newborns since 2000, China.org reported.
The two-child policy allows all Chinese couples to have a second baby. Such effectively expands a loosening exception to the one-child policy in 2013, which allows for a second baby if both parents come from one-child families.
Wang expressed her optimism that China's birth rate would proceed at a steady rate with the help of the two-child policy, with the total number of newborns expected to increase by two million annually. He expects China to produce up to 19 million new births by 2020.
Yet, despite the remarkable increase in Chinese newborn babies, the two-child policy remains a work in progress as far as making it appealing among big-city populations are concerned. Couples hailing from China's largest cities cite economic factors as their reasons for opting against having a second child.
Nonetheless, the Chinese government has announced a slew of proposals to assist couples looking to have a second child. One such proposal involves tax cuts for families with two children, while another one considers the passage of a maternity insurance system to aid female employees in pregnancy.
Moreover, China's 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) seeks to align the two-child policy with reforms covering education, social security, maternal care, and improvement in public services. Such seeks to encourage couples to have a second child to help revitalize China's aging population.