Collaborative system to expedite birth benefits

The State Council has approved the establishment of an interministerial joint collaboration system on improving China's birth rate policies in the latest move to harness multi-sector efforts to fully implement measures aimed at encouraging births, according to a circular released on Friday.

The collaboration system will guide the enforcement of major policies and tasks, coordinate, research and ensure full implementation of relevant measures and conduct supervision and investigations.

It was initiated by the National Health Commission, the country's top health authority, and will consist of 26 ministries and departments, including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, and the China Family Planning Association.

Vice-Premier Sun Chunlan will chair the joint conference system. An office will be set up at the National Health Commission to carry out daily work.

The establishment of the system has come along with a slew of measures aimed at boosting births, ranging from tax deductions and fertility subsidies to enhanced nursery care services. All were announced this week by 17 government departments

Zhi Zhenfeng, a professor at the Institute of Law at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the extensive scope of supportive policies means that different departments should be mobilized and coordinated in order to guarantee full enforcement.

"For instance, addressing the lack of affordable nursery care services－a key concern of many families deciding whether to have more children－would require work in the fields of land use, housing, finance and human capital," he said. "Improvements in maternity leave would also require joint work between medical insurance and human resources authorities.

"The joint conference system will improve the implementation of these supportive measures as we are facing an increasingly aging society, sluggish population growth and are striving to achieve long-term, balanced and high-quality demographic development."

The circular also notes that an old interministerial system launched when the one-child policy was in effect has been revoked.

Zhi said the change also aligns with shifts in government structures and national strategies. "The country's family planning policy has undergone major changes, and all policies at present are geared toward encouraging births," he said.