Singapore’s primary Chinese language newspaper Lianhe Zaobao recently reported that, according to statistics just released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriage registrations nationwide in the first quarter of this year was 1.969 million, a decrease of 178,000 couples compared with 2.147 million couples in the same period in 2023. The decline is significant, and it shows that the “compensation effect” after Covid-19 has gradually faded, and the number of marriage registrations is expected to continue to decline this year. He Yafu, a demography expert who has long tracked Chinese marriage registration data, said that due to the decline in the population of childbearing age, the number of marriage registrations in China has continued to decline for nine consecutive years since peaking in 2013. However, in the long term, due to the decline in the young population and changes in fertility concepts, the downward trend in China’s fertility rate and number of births will be difficult to fundamentally change unless strong fertility support policies are implemented in the future to address this challenge. The current Chinese economic environment is blurring the future of the young generation and is having an impact on their planning.
Source: Lianhe Zaobao, June 17, 2024
https://www.zaobao.com.sg/realtime/china/story20240617-3938825