**Gansu Province’s Suibei County Faces Declining Birth Rates**
Suibei County in Gansu Province is the largest county in the province. However, the average number of newborns born in the entire county each month has been less than 5 this year. The sparse population and continued decline in fertility rates have become serious challenges it is facing. Recently, the county has introduced policies to promote an increase in birth rates, offering cash subsidies in Chinese yuan. This news has quickly sparked public attention.
According to data from the Suibei County government, by the end of 2023, the registered population in the entire county was only 12,657 people, with negative population growth appearing for the first time last year.
Reports from Red Star News on the 19th indicated that Suibei County has a population of around 15,000 residents, and the introduction of the “Awards and Subsidies Measures” is mainly aimed at addressing the low local population, declining fertility rates annually, and negative growth seen last year. Based on current data, the average number of newborns born each month in the whole county is less than 5.
As reported by Radio Free Asia on the 19th, Mr. Yue, a scholar from Gansu, mentioned that Suibei County is remote, with many locals working in urban areas, leaving mostly elderly residents behind, which is a common phenomenon in Chinese rural areas. Therefore, the number of newborns in rural areas is also declining.
He said, “Suibei is a pastoral area inhabited by the Yugur people, a typical border ethnic minority area. The birth rate there is not reflective of normal data seen in regions like Central, East, North, and South China.”
To address the issue of population decline and aging, the local government recently introduced the “Suibei County Optimal Birth Policy to Promote Population Growth Awards and Subsidies Measures.” The policy stipulates that families with registered residence in Suibei County who have a second or third child can receive monthly subsidies of up to 1,700 yuan and 3,300 yuan respectively for three years, with a maximum cumulative amount of 100,000 yuan. In addition, eligible families can also receive support in various aspects such as medical expenses and maternity leave benefits. Furthermore, families who move to Suibei County from other places and give birth to their first child are eligible for an additional reward of 10,000 yuan to attract more people to relocate.
Mr. Yue believes that official promises cannot be trusted. He stated, “The peak of childbirth has passed. After the Cultural Revolution, the number of births stabilized for just a few years before the ‘family planning policy’ began—that is, preventing births. Initially, they said it wouldn’t change for a hundred years, but we had to fill out family planning application forms even before having children. Now they talk about birth subsidies, can you believe such a thing? When they had us fill out those forms, they said the country would take care of your retirement in the future. I am speaking from experience, I don’t believe it.”
As of now, the policies in Suibei County, Gansu Province, are mainly in the stage of promotion and have not yet received formal applications.
In recent years, various local governments in China have introduced a variety of incentives to encourage childbirth, such as cash subsidies, extending maternity leave, and childcare allowances. However, despite the significant publicity of many local policies, they often face the dilemma of “promises made, but little delivered” in actual implementation. The desire of childbearing-age individuals to have children remains limited.
Ms. Lu, a resident of Shandong, mentioned that the local birth situation has also been declining this year: “If you can’t even survive yourself, do you think having children will help you live longer? Now, many young people have left for cities because the way they live is different from the older generations. Farmers rely on the weather for their livelihood, and the money they make from farming is not enough to meet their needs.”
Ms. Lu stated that on one hand, there is significant financial pressure in fulfilling policy promises, which local governments may find difficult to bear. On the other hand, the lack of transparency and oversight mechanisms in policy implementation has led to delays in some commitments being met. This phenomenon of “empty promises” not only weakens public trust in policies but may also further reduce the enthusiasm of young people for childbirth, impacting the effectiveness of policies: “Now the government’s operations are problematic, the subsidies they provide are just for show, only to stimulate childbirth. The public just listens but shouldn’t take it seriously.”
The continuous decline in birth rates in Suibei County, Gansu Province, reflects a broader issue in mainland China.
The National Bureau of Statistics of the People’s Republic of China announced at the beginning of the year that the total population in China decreased by 2.08 million from the previous year-end in 2023. This is the second consecutive year of population decline in China.
In 2022, China’s birth population was 9.56 million, with a death toll of 10.41 million. Compared to the end of 2021, the total population decreased by 0.85 million.
2022 marked the first year of negative population growth in nearly 61 years in China. The population decrease in 2023 exceeded that of 2022.
The total number of deaths in China increased by 6.6% last year, reaching 11.1 million people, with the death rate reaching its highest level since 1974.
Meanwhile, the birth rate decreased by 5.7%, with 9.02 million new births in 2022. The birth rate hit a historic low, with an average of 6.39 new births per thousand people, lower than the 6.77 in 2022.
The “One-Child Policy” implemented by the Chinese Communist Party from the 1980s to 2015, coupled with the accelerated urbanization process during that period, has led to a continuous decline in birth rates in China for decades.