Pakistan(National Times)- HONG KONG: China’s Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia, announced a slew of childcare subsidies this month and promised to “care” for new mothers by giving them a daily cup of free milk, as local provinces strive to boost the country’s flagging population. More than 20 provincial level administrations across China have started offering childcare subsidies, the official Xinhua news agency said on Monday. Such subsidies have emerged as a key focus for policymakers as they try to encourage young couples to get married and have children. China’s population fell for a third consecutive year in 2024, as marriages plummeted by a fifth, the biggest drop on record. The country is facing an unprecedented demographic downturn, a result largely of China’s one-child policy imposed between 1980 and 2015, rapid urbanisation and the high cost of raising a family. Couples have been allowed to have as many as three children since 2021. Earlier this month at the annual meeting of China’s parliament, Premier Li Qiang announced childcare subsidies and free preschool education to try and boost the birth rate. An action plan to boost domestic consumption released on Sunday said that authorities should “study and establish a childcare subsidy system”. Hohhot, a bustling northern city surrounded by verdant grasslands, said couples would receive a 10,000 yuan ($1,382.51) one-off payment for their first child, and 10,000 yuan a year for a second baby until the child reached the age of five. A third child would receive an annual subsidy of 10,000 yuan until they turned 10, a total figure roughly twice the annual income of local residents. Hohhot also issued what it called the “One cup of milk fertility care action for mothers” with a cup of milk available for free each day for any mothers who give birth after March 1. They will also be entitled to an electronic voucher worth 3,000 yuan from two dairy companies Yili and China Mengniu Dairy.