China to offer cash in bid to control population

Beijing, Oct 16: Nearly three decades after China imposed its strict one-child policy, the government will offer financial incentives in an effort to restrain its population rise, paying farmers who choose not to have more children than allowed by law, state media reported.

From next year, the government will pay parents in rural areas who have no more than one son -- or two daughters -- 600 yuan a year each starting at the age of 60, the official China Daily said.

China introduced a one-child policy in 1979 but later relaxed it to allow farmers in particular to have more children, especially if they have a daughter first.

China now has 1.3 billion people, making it the world's most populous nation. The government's one-child policy remains in effect in most urban areas, although some exceptions have been allowed.

Chinese parents traditionally prefer sons, who are seen as being able to carry on the family name and provide for them in old age.

''In the policy's early years local governments' main enforcement measure was to impose fines on rural families that violated the policy,'' the newspaper said.

''Experts said although imposing fines has contributed to the project's success, the policy should be adapted as the nation develops,'' it added.

''More encouraging measures and public education should be used to raise awareness of the need for family planning,'' the report said.

The stipend is supposed to lessen the burden on single children who try to look after aged parents, many of whom in rural areas have no health insurance, the newspaper said.

It added that about 95 per cent of survey respondents who had either one son or two daughters reported financial problems. The survey was carried out by a development body under the State Council, or cabinet, in rural areas of Jiangxi, Gansu and Shanxi provinces.

Another change is to give one-off payments to rural families who have been given permission to have a third child but who choose not to have the child, the report said.

REUTERS