A growing number of Chinese companies and local governments are offering cash rewards to encourage marriage and childbirth, as the country pushes to build broader social support for family formation.
In Daye, Hubei, beverage maker Jingpai organized a collective wedding for 52 couples, covering all costs and giving each pair a 10,000 yuan (US$1,490) gift package. The company also runs a matchmaking service for employees that has paired 58 couples, resulting in 10 marriages and three births so far.
Retailer Pang Dong Lai has been even more generous: since January 2025, 73 employees have received marriage bonuses totaling 3.65 million yuan (US$544,000), with 54 recipients sharing 2.7 million yuan (US$402,000) in 2026 alone. At a company event in Wuhan in February, over 50 employees who married or had children in 2025 received bonuses—10,000 yuan (US$1,490) for a single employee, doubling to 20,000 yuan (US$2,980) if both spouses work at the firm.
Local governments are joining in too. Shengzhou, Zhejiang offers free premarital and prenatal checkups plus a 300 yuan (US$45) reward for qualifying first-time marriages. Mingxi County, Fujian gives 3,000 yuan (US$447) to couples registering their first marriage locally who complete premarital checkups. In Lüliang, Shanxi, couples marrying for the first time where the bride is 35 or younger receive 1,500 yuan (US$224). Several other regions, including parts of Guangzhou, Dongguan, and Foshan, along with cities like Hangzhou, Ningbo, Yiwu, and Wuhu, have introduced similar rewards or wedding consumption vouchers.
The measures align with China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, which calls for strengthening family-support policies and promoting a positive marriage and childbirth culture. Scholars note that since most Chinese births occur within marriage, encouraging marriage is an extension of birth-support policy and a way to ease the broader costs of marrying, having, and raising children.
Source: Yicai, September 21, 2026
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