The Chinese state media reported that the government plans to introduce new measures to increase population and tackle aging among the population as part of its new five-year plan 2021-2025.
The "China Official Daily", a Chinese English-spoken newspaper quoted experts saying that China will provide great financial and political support to encourage couples to have more children.
"More comprehensive population policies will be implemented to improve fertility, workforce quality, and demographics," said Yuan Xin, vice president of the China Population Association.
China has implemented the "one-child policy" since 1978.
The Chinese official said that rapid population growth, especially in the countryside, was feared to undermine efforts to reduce poverty and develop the economy.
Earlier in 2016, the world's most populous country decided to ease restrictions and allow couples to have a second child in an effort to address the rapid increase in the elderly population as well as the shrinking workforce.
But some experts say all restrictions must now be removed completely.
Demographers in China say that the number of citizens aged sixty years and overreached 254 million by the end of last year, equivalent to 18.1 percent of the population.
Those experts warn that the number of seniors is expected to increase to 300 million people by 2025 and 400 million by 2035, which constitutes great pressure on the country's health and social care system.
Demographers also predict that, according to current trends, the number of people of working age could fall by 200 million by 2050.
Despite the relaxation of the one-child policy in 2016, the number of live births per thousand people decreased to a record high of 10.48 last year, down from 10.94 in 2018.
The current population of China is 1,441,524,907 as of Monday, November 23, 2020, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.
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