For decades, China preoccupied with the prospect of runaway population growth and imposed a strict one-child policy from 1980 to 2015 to keep numbers in check.
The United Nations expects China's population will start shrinking from next year, then India will likely become the world’s most populous country.
China's fertility rate of 1.16 in 2021 was below the 2.1 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development standard for a stable population and among the lowest in the world.
The anguish of the coronavirus pandemic and China’s strict measures to stamp it out may also have had a profound impact on the desire of many people to have children.
New births in China are expected to fall to record lows this year, dropping below 10 million from last year's 10.6 million - which was already 11.5 per cent lower than in 2020.
The proportion of the population over the age of 65 is now about 13 per cent but is set to rise sharply.
