Overview

• Beijing will pay 3,600 yuan (about €420) annually for each child under three, with benefits applied retroactively to births from January 1, 2025.
• The subsidy follows a 1.39 million drop in population in 2024 and just 9.54 million births last year, half the number recorded in 2016.
• China ceded its status as the world’s most populous nation to India in 2023 and now faces rapid aging with nearly 310 million citizens aged 60 or older.
• Local governments such as Hohhot have already introduced incentives, offering up to 100,000 yuan per birth for families with three or more children.
• Experts caution that cash payments alone are unlikely to reverse the long-term demographic decline or spur a sustained increase in household spending.