Prime Highlights
- China will begin fully reimbursing all childbirth-related medical expenses nationwide from next year to reduce financial pressure on families.
- The policy is part of broader efforts to address the country’s declining birth rate and demographic challenges.
Key Facts
- Coverage includes prenatal checkups, delivery costs, and other approved treatments under existing health insurance policies, ensuring “no out-of-pocket costs” for childbirth.
- Several provinces, including Jilin, Jiangsu, and Shandong, have already implemented near-free childbirth policies ahead of the national rollout.
Background
China will begin fully reimbursing all childbirth-related medical expenses from next year, as part of a nationwide effort to reverse the country’s declining birth rate. The National Healthcare Security Administration said the policy aims to remove financial pressure on families and encourage more couples to have children.
Under the new plan, authorities will push to achieve full reimbursement for childbirth-related medical services across the country by 2026. The coverage includes prenatal checkups, delivery costs, and other approved treatments under existing health insurance policies. The administration stated that the measure is effective immediately and aims to guarantee “no out-of-pocket costs” for childbirth.
The announcement comes as China continues to face serious demographic challenges. The country’s population fell in 2022 for the first time in decades, and it kept falling through 2024. Experts say that fewer births, a smaller workforce, and more elderly people could slow economic growth and strain public finances over time.
Demographers say the impact of the one-child policy, which remained in force from 1980 to 2015, still affects population trends. Rapid urbanisation, rising childcare and education costs, job insecurity, and slower economic growth have also discouraged young couples from starting families.
Several provinces, including Jilin, Jiangsu, and Shandong, have started near-free childbirth policies, giving local support before the national plan begins. In March, Chinese authorities announced childcare subsidies and promised to make preschool education free to tackle population problems.
Earlier government efforts, such as extended maternity leave, tax benefits, and housing incentives, have delivered limited results so far. Authorities now hope that reducing medical costs linked to childbirth will ease financial concerns and help stabilise birth rates in the coming years.
