On World Population Day (July 11), China's National Health Commission (NHC) issued a notice to urge various regions of the country to promote implementation of the national policies on optimizing childbirth, and to also promote promulgation of policies that support childbirth. The commission noted various regions of the country have adopted measures to support childbirth in recent years, and therefore China has established a preliminary policy system to support childbirth. 

An official of NHC recently told media many provinces (in China) have established leading groups to promote work related to optimizing birth policies and promoting balanced development of population, and most of those groups are headed by governors of the provinces. 

The official also noted various regions of the country have issued plans to promote implementation of the decision of the CPC (Communist Party of China) Central Committee and the State Council (the central government's cabinet) on optimizing China's birth policies to promote the long-term, balanced development of its population. The official also told media all provinces have made policies to allow women to take at least 158 days of maternity leave, and to allow their husbands to take about 15 days of paternity leave. The official said all provinces have adopted a policy, under which both parents of a child under 3 years old enjoy 5-20 days of paid parental leave. 

To accord with the requirements of the Outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025) for National Economic and Social Development, various regions of the country during the past several years have adopted measures to improve their infant care and childcare services, including implementing projects to improve infant care and childcare infrastructure. Also, China implemented a campaign to encourage cities (districts) to make greater efforts to improve the overall quality of their infant and childcare services. 

The official said a recent survey, conducted by NHC, indicated lack of support in infant care and/or childcare has been a major factor that has affected families' decisions on whether they should have babies. The survey also indicated the development of childcare services for children aged 3 and under has markedly affected women's willingness to give birth. As China has devoted major efforts to promote its three-child policy during the past two years, many Chinese have attached greater importance to the improvement of the country's childcare services, the official noted. 

To improve children's overall health, and to help parents take better care of their kids, the General Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China promulgated, in 2019, the directive on improving services related to taking care of children aged 3 and under. The directive stressed measures should be promulgated to improve childcare services, to help families alleviate their burdens on childbirth, child-rearing and education. 

Yang Wenzhuang, Director of the Department of Population Surveillance and Family Development of NHC, stressed the Chinese Government should promote the development of various childcare service organizations (across the country), so more families will enjoy access to high-quality, affordable childcare services. He also noted greater efforts should be made to increase the enthusiasm of employees of social organizations to work with government organizations to improve childcare services across the country. 

Yang said statistics recently issued by NHC indicated the number of children aged 3 and under in China exceeded 32 million in 2022. He added the statistics also indicated more than one-third of urban families — or more families in economically developed areas, or China's first-tier cities (including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou) — wanted to enroll their children in nurseries or kindergartens. To satisfy the families' needs, Yang said China will increase efforts to promote promulgation of policies that support childbirth, and develop an inclusive childcare service system. That will help families alleviate their child-rearing and -education burdens.

(Women of China English Monthly August 2023 issue)