An op-ed in a state-run newspaper titled "Giving birth is a family matter and a national issue too" is the latest to encourage couples to have more children, and call for official action to enable young people to start families.
The full-page column was published in the overseas edition of the People's Daily, mouthpiece of the Chinese Communist Party. It warned that "the impact of low birth rates on the economy and society has begun to show."
The piece has attracted millions of comments online, and comes as the government revealed a new official postage stamp, which seems to hint that it may drop the remaining restrictions on the number of children people can have.
The stamp shows two happy pig parents with 3 happy piglets.
The 2015 change hasn't had the effect China's rulers hoped it would have, and a shortage of workers as the still-poor China faces an aging population without the means to support it.
Interesting enough, the relaxation hasn't had much of a birth impact, but it has led to companies being more reluctant to hire women lest they get pregnant more than once.
I've written that China has population problems that could well mean that if China doesn't surpass America by 2050 it might never do that, and even if it does America could regain the lead by 2100.
UPDATE: I didn't think the 2015 change (or the relaxation in 2013) would lead to a baby boom. I find it hard to believe this change will have any effect--except perhaps to encourage poorer ethnic minority communities to have more children. Which isn't exactly what China's rulers want.
