Couples getting married in one China county are offered a "cash reward" of 1,000 yuan (S$185).

However, they'll only get the money if the bride is 25 years old or younger.

What's in it

As China grapples with a declining birth rate, this may be a new incentive to encourage young Chinese to get married.

According to Changshan county's official Wechat account on Aug. 24, the reward was aimed at promoting "age-appropriate marriage and childbearing."

Changshan is a county in the Zhejiang province, which is located in the eastern side of China.

This reward is only applicable for couples registering their first marriage in the county, within 30 days of registration.

It also includes childcare, fertility, and education subsidies for couples who bear children after marriage.

The section titled "1. Policy content" reads:

"Promoting age-appropriate marriage and childbearing, a reward of 1,000 yuan will be given to couples who are both registered for the first time in our county.

The bride must be 25 years old or younger, with at least one party being registered in Changshan."

Reversing the effects of China's former one-child policy

Since January 2023, China's population has reportedly declined for the first time in 60 years, with only 1.41 billion people left in the country.

There were 9.56 million births in 2022, the lowest since 1950. China's birth rate has declined from 7.52 per thousand in 2021, to 6.77 in 2022.

The decreasing birth rate could be due to the rising cost of living.

In 2021, China announced an update to its two-child policy, which itself replaced the one-child policy. Chinese couples are now allowed to have three children. However, despite this reversal, two years has not seen the Chinese birth rate rise in any significant level.

A good incentive, or not?

Wechat users have commented that the cash reward is too low.

"Not enough money to buy milk powder," said one user.

"Will anyone from Zhejiang province care about this 1,000 yuan? [The government] is so stingy, who do they think they are fooling?" said another user.

CN Wire has reshared the post on X (formerly Twitter), and a commenter replied:

"Consequences of population collapse.

It's good to see China taking action at its initial stages of population collapse.

But they should also focus on reducing youth unemployment which is over 20%. This is more concerning."

The last value of youth unemployment was 21.3 per cent in June 2023.

However, China has reportedly suspended publishing its youth unemployment data.

Top image from Hac Hai/Pexels.