Harbin asking for ideas on birth policies

Until Oct 31, residents may submit opinions and suggestions on a plan for optimizing birth policies and promoting long-term balanced population development in Harbin, Heilongjiang province, the city's government said on Tuesday.

Under the plan, which was drafted by the city's health commission, families with a second and third child will receive a monthly subsidy for each child until the age of 3.

Families with a second or third child born after Oct 29, 2021, will receive a subsidy of up to 20,000 yuan ($2,764) when they buy newly built houses in one of the nine districts of the main urban area after July 22.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) period, the city will build one public child care institution for every 100,000 residents, it said.

According to the 2021 Statistical Bulletin of Harbin Economical and Social Development released by the city's bureau of statistics, the city had a permanent population of 9.89 million as of the end of 2021. The city's permanent population in 2020 was just over 10 million.

The city's registered population in 2021 was 9.43 million, a year-on-year decrease of 53,000. Of the registered residents, 55.8 percent live in urban areas.

Citizens aged 60 or above in Harbin numbered 2.35 million in 2021, or 24.9 percent of its population. In addition, the birth rate stood at 3.9 births per 1,000 people and the mortality rate at 5.9 deaths per 1,000.