A northern Chinese city has promised cash rewards for families with children in the latest effort to boost birth rates in a country that faces an aging society.
Starting this month, Hohhot, capital of north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, will offer a one-time subsidy of 10,000 yuan (about 1,394 U.S. dollars) for couples having their first child, according to a new regulation released on March 13.
Families with a second child will receive 10,000 yuan per year until the child reaches five years old. For the third child or more, the annual subsidy is 10,000 yuan until the child turns 10, with the total amount reaching 100,000 yuan, a relatively high amount compared with other cities.
"I gave birth to my child on March 12. And I heard that Hohhot has introduced a policy to reward childbirth, and I feel very lucky to have caught up with it," said Han Dan, a resident of Hohhot.
"I think this policy is very good. It can reduce the pressure. I'm from Liangcheng County in Ulanqab, but I've been living in Hohhot for a long time. I'm an expectant mother of a second child. And I'm thinking of moving my household registration and my kid's to Hohhot to see if I can benefit from this policy," said Su Hui, another resident of Hohhot.
According to the policy, Hohhot will conduct two rounds of application reviews each year, in May and November. Families with two or three children only need to submit annual review materials during the subsequent review period to continue receiving the subsidies. Approved payments will be disbursed in batches each January and July.
"Based on our childcare subsidy information system, 417 families have already submitted applications and are awaiting confirmation. The first batch of families who pass the review will receive their subsidies in July," said Zhang Hongmin, director of the population, family and elderly health department with the Health Commission of Hohhot.
Data from the Hohhot Statistics Bureau showed that in 2023, the city's permanent population was around 3.6 million, making it the fastest-growing city in Inner Mongolia. However, the city's population growth rate remained negative at -0.76 permillage.
Chinese city offers handsome cash rewards to boost birth rates
Chinese and foreign scientists have jointly carried out a series of exchange and investigation activities this week to respond to the United Nations' initiative on glacier preservation.
The United Nations declared 2025 as the International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, accompanied by the proclamation of the 21st March of each year as the World Day for Glaciers starting in 2025.
A public advocacy and glacier investigation activity with the initiative of "Let the Glacier Cool" was launched at Dagu Glacier scenic area in southwest China's Sichuan Province, a key place in global glacier preservation, from Monday to Tuesday.
In 2024, the Global Glacier Loss List (GGCL) project was jointly launched by Rice University, the University of Iceland, the Icelandic Glaciological Society, the World Glacier Monitoring Service (WGMS), and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).
The project tracks recently disappeared, almost disappeared, and critically endangered glaciers worldwide. Among them, the Dagu Glacier is the only glacier in China on the list.
In this regard, Chinese and foreign glacier experts and scholars conducted in-depth investigations into the changes in Dagu Glacier during the event.
"Let China's voice be heard in the 2025 International Year of Glaciers' Preservation, World Day for Glaciers, and the Decade of Action for Cryospheric Sciences. We need to awaken people's awareness of glacier changes, and everyone can reduce emissions and live a green life to slow down global warming, so that we can prolong the life of glaciers," said Li Zhongqin, a researcher at the Northwest Institute of Eco-Environment and Resources (NIEER) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
Meanwhile, the Dagu Glacier International Academic Summit Forum was held in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, from Sunday to Tuesday.
The forum was jointly organized by the NIEER, the Center for Glacier Research of the National Academy of Sciences of Tajikistan, the Institute of Mountain Hazards and Environment (IMHE) under the CAS, and the Sichuan Dagu Glacier Administration Bureau.
More than 100 glaciologists, climate policy experts and representatives of international organizations from more than 10 countries including China, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, the United States and the United Kingdom, attended the conference online and offline, and had in-depth dialogues on the scientific challenges and international cooperation in global glacier protection.
"Because of global warming, glaciers around the world are generally melting. For example, the latest research data released last month showed that the annual loss of global glaciers, if converted into water equivalent, is 273 billion tons. The public can clearly see that the glaciers are shrinking rapidly and disappearing rapidly," said Kang Shichang, director of the IMHE.
Global experts gather in Sichuan to respond to UN glacier initiative
