- A top advisor suggested that China lower its marriage age to 18, and people aren't happy with him.
- Gan Huatian of the NCCPPC was blasted online for saying the move could boost birthrates.
A top advisor in China proposed on Tuesday that the country lower its legal age of marriage to 18 to boost its lagging population, a suggestion met with intense backlash online.
As China's top decision-making bodies met in Beijing this month, Gan Huatian, a leading member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said publicly that the change would help lift declining birthrates, per regional media outlets.
The conference is not a ruling body but advises the National People's Congress, China's central authority.
The current legal age of marriage in China is 22 for men and 20 for women.
Gan, a professor from the West China Hospital in Sichuan province, also asked that China remove its birth restrictions — which often make it difficult for children born out of wedlock to register in schools or purchase property later in their lives. Paid maternity leave should also be extended from 98 days to two years, he said.
His proposal, however, went viral and was quickly slammed online, a further sign that China's population woes are rooted beyond just family policies.
"I thought at least those who have experienced childbirth should propose these reproduction suggestions," said one top comment with 7,500 likes on Weibo, China's version of X.
"The children of this representative don't need to study. They can get married after graduating from high school," said another.
"You're not supporting people to go get a better education at a college, but you encourage them to give birth at 18?" another top comment said.
The topic of Gan's proposal hit 61 million views on Weibo as of Wednesday morning Beijing time, per data seen by Business Insider.
China's population decreased by around 2 million people in 2023, while its birth rates have declined to their lowest levels since 1949, per government statistics.
Its last period of population decline was in the 1960s, due to widespread famine caused by Mao Zedong's backfired Great Leap Forward.
The decline spells a potential crisis for China, which is growing old faster than it can get rich enough to support an aging population.
As its population problems loom, governments around the country have explored all manner of ways to get people to tie the knot and have children.
But many young Chinese people say their struggles in an ailing economy and the weight of societal expectations for raising families have undermined any prospects of marriage and child-rearing.