2024-12-04
6 分钟The Economist Hi, it's Alice Su here.
I co-host Drum Tower, our weekly podcast on China.
Here's an article handpicked from the latest edition of The Economist, read out loud.
I thought you might enjoy it.
Ms. Mao was making lunch one day at her home in the eastern city of Wuxi when she got the phone call.
Rather than the courier's delivery update she was expecting,
she found herself subject to an intimate interrogation by a neighbourhood official.
When was your last period?
Are you pregnant?
Do you plan to have a baby?
It doesn't seem like the kind of thing that could happen in the 21st century,
says the 28-year-old.
Such intrusive calls to young,
recently married women are part of an intensifying government campaign to stem China's falling birthrate and reverse the drag it is having on economic growth.
Demographers estimate Chinese women have one child each on average,
far below the 2.1 needed to keep the population stable.
In late October, the State Council, China's cabinet,
unveiled a sweeping set of pro-natalist measures, including child tax credits,
more maternity and paternity leave, and, importantly,
easier access to housing loans, a big concern for Chinese families.