Experts question whether these superstitions will improve the situation in China.
Chinese people are hopeful that 2024 will bring some respite from the declining birth rate that has plagued the country for years. Reason: This year is the Year of the Dragon and is considered to be a very favorable year for having children. According to the report, financial times, Parents try to time their child’s birth using auspicious zodiac signs. China’s population growth in 2023 will officially begin on February 10, after suffering two consecutive years of decline due to a bleak economic outlook, an aging population and the coronavirus pandemic, the report said.
The national death rate is also accelerating, reaching 7.87 per 1,000 people in 2023, the highest level since the early 1970s. F.T. Said. In 2022, China’s population will decline by 850,000 people, the first decline since man-made famine 60 years ago.
“The population decline is not just an increase; the decline is more than twice that of the previous year,” Wang Feng, an expert on Chinese demographics at the University of California, told the magazine.
There are high hopes for the Year of the Dragon, as more births are recorded during this period than any other year in China’s 12-year cycle.
In China, Taiwan, Singapore, and Hong Kong, it is traditionally believed that “baby dragons” (those born in the Year of the Dragon) are imbued with good luck. Experts have also warned that 2024 will be critical for China to revive growth factors and break out of the debt-deflationary spiral.
F.T. attached a graph from China’s National Bureau of Statistics to its report showing that the birth rate rose slightly in the Year of the Dragon. But experts question whether these superstitions will improve the situation in China.
“In the past, the birth rate was high in auspicious zodiac years. However, given the economic outlook and pessimism among young people, I don’t think we will see a significant recovery this year,” Wang said. Stated.
Others have expressed similar opinions. Dora Gao, 30, who works in Shanghai, said she is not confident enough in her financial situation to raise a child. “We don’t have enough resources to devote to our children’s education. Competition is fierce and the costs associated with it are high,” she said. F.T..
a South China Morning Post (SCMP) According to the report, in 2000, the Year of the Dragon, Hong Kong’s birth rate increased by more than 5%. The number of births in mainland China increased in 2012, increasing by nearly 950,000 compared to the previous year.
The paper said that in the days before the new year, terms such as “Dragon Baby” and “Dragon BB” were the most searched for in China and trending online.