China to offer free fertility treatment in hopes of reversing record low birth rate

China has announced its first overall population decline in recent years amid an aging society and plunging birth-rate. Credit: AP

Free fertility treatment could be offered to Chinese citizens under the country's national insurance scheme, in the hopes of reversing plummeting birth rates.  

Plans are for the National Healthcare Security Administration to extend its coverage and help shoulder the costs for families trying to conceive.

The new coverage would include assisted reproductive technology (ART) techniques such as IVF and also cover labour pain relief.

It comes after China's population declined for the first time in more than 60 years, according to the country's National Bureau of Statistics.The last time China is believed to have recorded a population decline was during the Great Leap Forward, launched at the end of the 1950s.China's strict one-child policy was one the of the initial reasons behind this, but the ruling was officially dropped in 2016.

A population that is slowly shrinking poses new challenges for China's leaders. Credit: AP

Since abandoning the policy, China has sought to encourage families to have second or even third children, with little success, reflecting attitudes in much of east Asia where birth rates are typically low.

According to CNN, the administration has described China's falling population as one of the biggest obstacles to national development.

In a bid to tackle the problem they had already added ovulation-inducing drugs to its coverage.

It is hoped that the extension in coverage will help the Chinese authorities to persuade more people to get married and have children.

Though not immediately, a falling population for China could present economic issues for its government should the trend continue in the coming years.

Fewer people will start to enter China's labour market, which in turn will apply pressure on wages and labour costs.

As China's population pyramid becomes more top heavy and begins to age it will also mean the government needs to allocate more funds towards its health and social care systems.

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