Vishwakhabram: What has Xi Jinping done that only children are being born in China? How did ‘Dragon Baby Boom’ come to China?

After lagging behind India in terms of population, China did something that at present there are reports of babies being born in Chinese hospitals. Reports from Chinese media outlets are showing that the Year of the Dragon is proving to be very beneficial for China. Let us tell you that according to the Chinese calendar, every 12th year is called Dragon Year. In this sense, the year 2024 is the year of the dragon. The dragon is considered particularly auspicious in the Chinese zodiac and there have been reports of births during the New Year, which began on February 10. Data from Chinese hospitals has shown that there has been a large increase in the number of newborns. According to Chinese media reports, most hospitals in the country have seen an average 20% increase in the number of newborns compared to a year ago. While a hospital in northwestern Shaanxi province has shown a 72% increase in the number of newborns compared to 2023. In this way, this year is becoming known as Dragon Baby for China.

Let us tell you that Chinese policy makers were worried about the rapidly aging population and declining birth rate. President Xi Jinping said last year that it was necessary to “cultivate a new culture of marriage and childbearing” for national development. President Xi said that women should give priority to telling “stories of good family tradition” so that women will be more inclined to lead a family. For this, many types of awareness programs were also run by the Chinese government, but Chinese youth are choosing to live alone due to decreasing job prospects, record unemployment and very low consumer confidence. There are reports that young people in China are shying away from getting married as growth in the world’s second-largest economy has slowed. Unmarried youth in China are also reluctant to have children because unmarried mothers are deprived of the benefits of child-rearing.

Demographers, on the other hand, say the “Dragon Baby” boom will likely be short-lived as women struggle with the high costs of child care and in traditional societies, their options are to marry or pursue careers. . Therefore, to advance their career, a large number of Chinese women are choosing to remain childless. If seen, this clearly shows that discrimination on the basis of gender is deeply rooted in China. Apart from this, it is also being said that the news of large number of children being born in China is coming because most of the families had planned the birth of the child in the year of the Dragon itself.

Looking at China’s economic and social scenario, it does not seem that this period of population boom will continue for long. Actually, the Chinese are apprehensive about their future, that is why they do not want to take the family forward. But this is worrying not only for China but also for the whole world. Let us tell you that China is the second largest market in the world which is responsible for more than one third of the world’s economic growth. China is also the second largest importer, so any change in its population will have an impact on the global economy. Jobs are already disappearing all over the world, so if the Chinese economy gets worse then everyone will have to bear the brunt of it. Overall, a sharp economic slowdown in China will drag down global growth, the effects of which could be devastating.

However, as far as China’s population figures are concerned, it itself had announced that its population would decline in 2023. Chinese population has decreased from 1.4118 billion to 1.4097 billion. UN forecasts also show that China’s population will decline to 1.313 billion by 2050 and then to about 800 million by 2100. It is estimated that by 2040 more than one-quarter of China’s population will be over 60 and less economically active (the retirement age for men is 60 years and for women it is 50–55 years). This will put pressure on China’s pension and elderly care systems. Additionally, people may be unhappy with changes to the health care system to cope with population changes. This may result in some degree of political instability. Furthermore, as the elderly increase their dependence on their children, levels of household consumption, savings and investment are likely to decline, negatively impacting the economy.