DIRE WARNING FOR CHINA: BIRTHS MAY FALL BELOW 10MN ANNUALLY

BEIJING: The Chinese government should quickly abolish the policy of limiting two children per family, otherwise births in the world’s most populous country could slide below 10 million annually in the next five years, an expert told state media on Monday.

Dong Yuzheng, head of the Guangdong Academy of Population Development, is the latest to sound a warning about China’s falling birth rate following a word of caution from Cai Fang, a member of the monetary policy committee of the People’s Bank of China (PBOC), the country’s central bank, about the population entering negative growth by 2025. “China’s total population may also fall in a few years.” Dong said.

Only last week, the PBOC had made public a work report by its staffers, which made the radical suggestion that the government allow three or more children per household to compete economically with India and the US in the future.