BEIJING: With the annual number of newborns in China projected to continue falling, medical experts have called for measures to boost female fertility, such as stepping up research into the issue, developing more assisted-reproduction tools and improving awareness about reproductive health.
Qiao Jie, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and head of Peking University’s Health Science Center, said that the annual number of new births in China has slipped about 40 percent in the past five years.
Data shows that the Chinese mainland recorded 9.56 million newborns last year, compared with 12 million in 2020 and 17.86 million in 2016. Experts said the falling number of new births is a major factor contributing to the historic population decline recorded last year.
“It is estimated that the number of newborns this year will be around seven to eight million,” Qiao said during an academic conference this week. “At present, boosting the fertility of women is a focal point of raising overall birthrates.”
However, she said the status of Chinese female fertility is “concerning”, and is the result of the shrinking number of women of reproductive age, the increasing incidence of infertility and high incidence of abnormal pregnancy. She called for ramping up research into biological explanations for impaired fertility and developing tools for improving and preserving fertility. –The Daily Mail-China Daily exchange item
