Henan People's Congress Representatives Suggested to Relax Birth Control as Soon as Possible (Attached Full Text)

The Henan Provincial Health Commission recently responded to the suggestion made by Wang Jianshu, a member of the Henan Provincial People's Congress and chairman of the board of directors of Yufa Group, to "formulate a population development strategy for Henan Province as soon as possible and relax childbirth as soon as possible."

The "Reply to Suggestion No. 895 of the Third Session of the 13th Provincial People's Congress" (hereinafter referred to as the "Reply") released on the website of the Henan Provincial Health Commission on August 13 disclosed the specific content of the Provincial Health Commission's response to the above suggestion on June 24.

Henan Province has a large population, making it one of the most populous provinces in the country, with abundant labor resources and a huge consumer market. At the end of 2019, the province had a total population of 109.52 million, a permanent population of 96.40 million, a population density of 661 people per square kilometer, and an urbanization rate of 53.2%.
However, due to factors such as the continued decrease in the number of women of childbearing age, Henan Province's population growth has declined for three consecutive years and will continue to decline. This issue also attracted the attention of provincial people's congress representatives such as Wang Jianshu.
The reply stated that since the implementation of the universal two-child policy on January 1, 2016, Henan has implemented the policy smoothly, and population growth has basically met expectations. "However, due to the continuous decrease in the number of women of childbearing age, the reduced willingness of couples of childbearing age to have children, the lack of a system and social environment to support childbearing in accordance with the policy, and the urgent need to resolve structural supply and demand issues in maternal and child health, childcare services, and preschool education, the population has been declining for three consecutive years and will continue to decline. The statistical bulletin of our province shows that in 2016, the province had 1.4261 million births, an increase of 66,100 over 2015. The momentum of population growth began to weaken in 2017. In 2017, the number of births was 1.4 million, a decrease of 26,000 over 2016; in 2018, the number of births was 1.27 million, a decrease of 130,000 over 2017; and in 2019, the number of births was 1.2 million, a decrease of 70,000 over 2018, which poses challenges to the long-term balanced development of our province's population and the sustainable development of its economy and society."