XIAN, China: As part of its efforts to encourage weddings and increase its birth rate, the Chinese city of Xian said it would award lottery tickets worth 700,000 yuan ($97,000) to newlyweds who can present a marriage certificate.
In 2023, China’s population fell for a second consecutive year, with new births dropping to around half the number in 2016. In 2022, marriages in the country also hit a record low.
Xian promised a lottery ticket to any newlywed couple presenting a marriage certificate from March 1 as “a double surprise,” as unmarried mothers are often denied childcare benefits.
On its official WeChat account, Xian’s civil affairs bureau said, “This is not only the beginning of a happy life after receiving the marriage certificate but also more likely to get a small gift.”
The campaign will run until November 30, it added.
In February, a prominent Chinese think tank said that China is one of the world’s most expensive places to raise children relative to GDP per capita.
Amid high childcare costs, an unwillingness to marry due to their careers, and persisting gender discrimination, fewer Chinese women are opting to have children.
