China to hold nationwide survey on population changes

HONG KONG (Reuters) - China's National Bureau of Statistics said it will conduct a nationwide sample survey from Thursday to "accurately" monitor population changes and better plan economic and social policies, as authorities struggle to boost a fall in births.

The survey, which will run until Nov. 30, comes after the bureau conducted a similar poll in 2023.

Beijing is urgently trying a variety of measures to incentivise young couples to have children after China posted a second consecutive year of population decline in 2023.

Rapid aging has become a growing concern for policymakers, with China's cohort of those aged 60 and older expected to rise at least 40% to more than 400 million by 2035, equal to the populations of Britain and the United States combined.

The survey will focus on urban and rural areas to "accurately and timely monitor and reflect the development and changes in population" and help formulate "national economic and social development plans," the bureau said in a statement.

Local governments and personnel will be held accountable for any "illegal acts" during survey work, and all sectors of society must "actively support and cooperate" with the survey, it said.

Population development has often been linked to the strength and "rejuvenation" of China in state media, amid the declining birth rate and widespread concerns by citizens on the difficulties of raising children.

Chinese health officials said in September that they would focus more efforts on advocating marriage and childbirth at appropriate ages and called for shared parenting responsibilities to guide young people towards "positive perspectives on marriage, childbirth and family".

Many young Chinese are opting to remain childless due to high childcare costs, an unwillingness to marry, or put their careers on hold in a traditional society where women are still seen as the main care-givers and where gender discrimination remains rife.

The number of marriages in the first half of this year fell to its lowest level since 2013, official data showed.

China last conducted its once-in-a-decade census of the entire population in November 2020, which showed the population grew at the slowest pace since the first modern survey in the 1950s.

(Reporting by Farah Master and the Beijing newsroom; Editing by Sam Holmes)