Child artists paint green trees by hand in a community in Urumqi, Northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, on March 12, 2025. Photo: VCG
Multiple cities in China, including Beijing and Hohhot, North China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, have rolled out measures to improve the birth support policy system. A Chinese expert noted that these efforts are conducive to building a birth-friendly society.
The People's Government of Beijing Municipality introduced 15 measures on Thursday to enhance fertility support policy system. Among these measures, certain labor pain relief and assisted reproductive technology (ART) services will be included in medical insurance coverage.
According to a notice released by the Beijing municipal government on Thursday, the city will strengthen birth service support, enhance childcare service system, improve supportive childbirth policies, and promote the development of a birth-friendly society.
Among the 15 measures, the city will establish and implement a childcare subsidy system, and effectively enforce policies such as special additional deductions for personal income tax for childcare of children under 3 years old and for children's education.
The city will strengthen the research and application of reproductive healthcare technologies, enhance the quality of prenatal examinations, hospital deliveries, and postpartum care, and improve mental health services for pregnant and postpartum women, according to the notice.
The measures also include reasonably determining the pricing level for obstetric services, including labor pain relief and assisted reproductive technology services in medical insurance coverage, and timely adjusting medical insurance payment policies. The city will also strengthen education on puberty and sexual health for adolescents.
The measures introduced by the Beijing government are comprehensive, covering various aspects such as the economy, healthcare, time support, and cultural support, Jiang Quanbao, a population studies expert and professor at the School of Labor Economics, Capital University of Economics and Business, told the Global Times on Thursday.
Additionally, the notice outlines responsibilities for various departments and emphasizes implementing measures to actively promote the establishment of a family-friendly society, Jiang said.
Along with childcare support, the policy also calls for more supportive policies in housing. The city will increase the supply of affordable housing through multiple channels, and families with more minor children will be prioritized for public rental housing allocation, and their preferences for housing types will be appropriately considered, according to the notice.
China's central budget will allocate 90 billion yuan ($12.6 billion) this year to support the issuance of childcare subsidies, the Ministry of Finance said on Wednesday.
Hohhot, capital of the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, announced in March that the city would offer a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan for couples having their first child, according to the local authorities.
The implementation of childcare subsidy policies is not only a welfare measure by the government to address the low birth rate, but also a concrete embodiment of the concept of "investing in people." By investing in children, these policies help alleviate the childcare burden on families and create a family-friendly environment for childbirth, thereby laying a solid foundation for the growth of the next generation, said Jiang.