Facing the reality of the Chinese Communist Party’s economy, many young people are choosing not to marry and not to have children, leading to a decline in the birth rate and causing a large number of kindergartens to shut down across the country. Just last year, over 20,000 kindergartens were closed.
According to the latest data from the Chinese Ministry of Education in June this year, in 2024, there were a total of 253,300 kindergartens nationwide, compared to 274,400 in 2023. This means that 21,100 kindergartens closed within a year, with over fifty kindergartens shutting down on average each day. The total number of preschool children in kindergartens in 2024 was 35.8399 million, down by 5.0899 million compared to 40.9298 million in 2023.
A cultural operator in Beijing, Li Bo (pseudonym), told Epoch Times, “The current decrease in newborn population is a result of the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal implementation of the one-child policy in the 1980s, depriving people of their reproductive rights. Since then, the population has sharply declined.” He added, “Nowadays, with people struggling to make ends meet and the economy in decline, individuals are less willing to get married. Even those who do marry are choosing not to have children. Without children, there is no need for kindergartens, then no need for primary schools, and in another 20 years, even universities could face closures.”
Since the nationwide implementation of the two-child policy in China in 2016, the birth rate peaked and has been steadily declining thereafter. The preschool education sector has been feeling the impact for the past few years, with some kindergartens going from being in high demand to now struggling to enroll even a single child.
Li Bo believes, “For a country to develop, it must first have people. Without people, there is no consumption, no production, and society will stagnate and fail to prosper. With a significant decline in population now, there are no students, no creativity, and many people are going abroad, whether for labor or study. Once they leave, they have no intention of returning, which poses a serious blow to the development and prosperity of the Chinese economy.”
From 2022 to 2024, the number of kindergartens closing across the country has been on a steep decline. In 2022, 5,610 kindergartens disappeared, followed by 14,808 closures in 2023, and over 21,100 in 2024. This three-year period saw a reduction of 41,500 kindergartens, with a decrease rate of 14.08%. It is projected that in 2025, another 26,000 kindergartens may close. At this rate, by 2030, China could see a drop to 163,700 kindergartens.
A resident in Zhejiang, Wang Qiang (pseudonym), expressed to Epoch Times, “Hangzhou’s economy is relatively developed, but in his neighborhood alone, dozens of shops have closed down, which naturally means children no longer need to attend kindergartens and primary schools here.” He added, “In the past, getting into kindergartens here was very challenging, but now basically as long as you apply, even if you’re not in the designated zone, they will accept your enrollment. This shows how difficult it is for schools to attract students now.”
” The CCP is just messing around,” Wang Qiang said. “In the past, they forced people to have fewer children, forcing women to abort if they were pregnant with a second child and even facing fines and demotions; now they want to force people to have more children, promoting the idea of a third child, but reality shows that people are struggling financially. Without being able to earn enough, let alone having children, even marriage is becoming a problem.”