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Source: People's Republic of China in Russian – People's Republic of China in Russian –
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Source: People's Republic of China – State Council News
SHENYANG, Sept. 12 (Xinhua) — Han Peng, a resident of northeast China's Liaoning Province, received a notice Wednesday that China has officially opened applications for child care subsidies.
“I immediately went to the Alipay app and followed the instructions to upload the relevant documents,” said the 35-year-old father, whose entire application process took about 10 minutes.
China has been implementing a nationwide childcare subsidy program since January 1, 2025, which is expected to cover more than 20 million families annually as part of the country's efforts to support families and encourage childbearing.
A spokesman for China's National Health Commission (NHC) said Monday that anyone can apply for the program, which provides families with 3,600 yuan (about $505.50) annually for each child under three.
Han Peng's daughter was born in January this year in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province. According to calculations, his family is entitled to a child care subsidy of 10,800 yuan.
POLITICS WELCOME
As one of the most populous countries in the world, China faces a dual demographic challenge of declining birth rates and a rapidly aging population.
The country's birth rate and total number of births declined for seven consecutive years before a slight increase in 2024. Meanwhile, China's population aged 60 and over reached 310 million by the end of last year.
Liaoning is one of China's provinces with the highest proportion of elderly residents, while its birth rate is one of the lowest in the country.
Wu Pei, an official with the Liaoning Provincial Health Commission, told Xinhua that the policy is expected to benefit more than 520,000 infants in the province. As of 3 p.m. Wednesday, the commission had received applications from about 485,500 people.
As of 9 a.m. Wednesday, more than 24 million applications had been submitted nationwide, representing about 80 percent of the target audience.
Sun Bailu, a person in charge of a residential community in Jianxi District of Luoyang City, central China's Henan Province, said detailed instructions on how to apply were sent out through WeChat groups. Community staff also visited a kindergarten to give a lecture to parents of young children.
“During online and offline presentations, we saw that this policy was in demand among parents – many of them immediately expressed a desire to apply,” she emphasized.
The monthly fee for a kindergarten place is 540 yuan, and the government subsidy is 300 yuan per month, covering more than half of the cost of a child's stay in the kindergarten. The total annual subsidy, 3,600 yuan, is almost equal to the average monthly salary in Luoyang last year.
“For ordinary families, this is really significant support,” Sun Bailu emphasized.
THE BURDEN IS LIGHTER
Deputy head of the State Children's Committee Guo Yanhong noted that the child care subsidy is the first large-scale, universal and direct cash assistance program in the history of the People's Republic of China aimed at improving public welfare.
“This is a smart investment in both children and the economy,” said Amakobe Sande, UNICEF Representative in China.
“Choosing cash payments over tax breaks will support the most vulnerable families,” she said. “Making it universally available to children in both urban and rural areas will help reduce regional gaps in child support, and allocating funds from the central budget to cover these costs will ensure sustainability.”
Song Limin, a research fellow at the School of Public Administration at Liaoning University, noted the positive propaganda function of the new policy.
"It is useful for increasing the birth rate and promoting the possible increase in the number of newborns," Song Limin emphasized.
China has been gradually relaxing its family planning policies over the past decade. In 2013, China allowed couples to have a second child if at least one of the spouses was an only child in their parents' family. In 2016, with the gradual abolition of the country's "one family, one child" policy, all couples were allowed to have two children. In 2021, support was announced for couples wanting a third child.
In addition, starting in the fall semester of 2025, pre-school education will be free for 12 million children in China.
In recent years, many local governments, including Shenyang, have launched pilot programs to subsidize families with young children.
Han Peng is glad that these policies reduce their costs of raising children.
“My wife and I decided that the money we saved would go toward our daughter,” he added. “We would take her on trips to broaden her horizons and enroll her in classes where she could play sports or musical instruments that she liked.” -0-
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