China’s two-child policy implemented in 2016 has failed to make an impact on the country’s low birth rate as the number of new-borns dropped by two million last year in the world’s most populous nation, recent figures from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed.
Zhang Ahlan (pseudonym), 27, from Beijing has proposed that children of unmarried women be legitimised which was strongly opposed by some experts, state-run Global Times reported on Thursday.
Zhang said that she sent letters to 64 deputies of the National People’s Congress (NPC) saying they cannot freeze their eggs nor apply for a sperm from the sperm bank or use artificially assisted reproductive technology to get pregnant.
The letters sent by Zhang early this month to NPC Deputies were mostly from China’s Jilin Province as Jilin is the only province in the country that officially allows unmarried women above legal age to get pregnant.
However, it is allowed under certain conditions, including having a Jilin household registration and remaining single for life.
She is yet to receive a response, the report said.
The NPC, which is China’s Parliament is due to hold its annual session from March 5.
Zhang’s proposal has been strongly opposed by experts, saying it is not responsible to their babies, the paper reported.
Chai Zhenwu, president of the China Population Association, said that the number of people born will continue to fall over the next few years.
Recent reports also said that China plans to completely abandon the birth control policy to encourage people to have more children, to correct the demographic imbalance.
