Free college education and equal rights for unmarried women are among proposals being urged by members of China’s top political advisory body to boost the country's birth rate after its population fell last year for the first time in six decades.
The proposals come ahead of the upcoming Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which kicks off on March 4. The once-a-year gathering mostly overlaps with the National People's Congress (NPC), where a new leadership team under President Xi Jinping will be endorsed.
China should remove restrictions on marital status used to register newborns, allowing unmarried women to enjoy fertility services like married women do, Xie Wenmin, a member of China's top political advisory body, told the state-backed Global Times this week.
