China state planner says to make birth policy 'more inclusive'

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's state planner said on Friday that it would make the country's birth policy "more inclusive," while trying to reduce the costs of having children, amid mounting concerns over the country's rapidly ageing population.

"We will implement the national strategy on addressing population aging, make our childbirth policy more inclusive, and strive to reduce the costs of child-bearing, rearing, and education," said the National Development and Reform Commission in its annual work report.

The number of newborns in China plummeted 15% in 2020 from a year earlier, according to the Ministry of Public Security, with the onset of the novel coronavirus disrupting the economy and weighing on decisions to have a family.

In recent years, many Chinese couples have been reluctant to have children due to the rising cost of health care, education and housing. China’s decision in 2016 to abandon its decades-long one-child policy has not provided much impetus to the country’s birth rate.

(Reporting by Gabriel Crossley and Colin Qian; Editing by Ana Nicolaci da Costa)