New traditions

Weddings have indeed declined for the last eight years, with new marriage licenses hitting a 13-year low at 5.9 million in the first three quarters of this year, according to government data.

At the same time condom sales are booming in China – sales up 15 per cent each year since 2019, valuing the market at £3.8 billion, according to industry data. 

The government has also stressed traditional gender roles, banning representations of men deemed too effeminate from television in favour of more manly expressions.

Some localities have even ordered hospitals to stop performing vasectomies to spur pregnancies.

The issue of waning births – and more broadly, a shrinking population – has become so politically sensitive that even academics circulating policy proposals online have been censored in China.

The total population stood at 1.413 billion at the end of 2021, an increase of 480,000 from the previous year, the data showed.

Last week, a high-profile Chinese economist who posted online suggesting the central bank set up a multi-billion dollar “fertility fund” to encourage people to have children, was banned from using his social media accounts.