Free University education and same rights for single women are among the proposals heard by members of its highest political advisory body China in order to boosting the birth rate after the country’s population declined last year, for the first time in six decades.

Proposals come in front of her Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese People (CPPCC), starting on March 4. This annual meeting largely coincides with the National People’s Congress (NPC), where the new leadership team under President Xi Jinping will be ratified.

China should lift the restrictions on marital status that used to registration of newborns in the censusesallowing single women to access fertility services like married women, Xie Wenmin, a member of China’s top political advisory body, told the Global Times newspaper this week.

The existing government rules provide that only married women can legally have a child but some provinces, such as the southwestern province of Sichuan, began in February to allow for unmarried women to become mothers.

The shrinking Chinese population is leading the authorities to move forward with initiatives and measures aimed at population growth, such as extended maternity leave, financial and tax incentives for having children and housing subsidies.

Paternity leave should also be increased for men to share the responsibilities of having a child, CPPCC member Gan Huatian said yesterday.

In the families they acquire third child free university education should be offered after 2024, CPPCC member Zhao Dongling said today in a proposal that is among the most trending topics on Chinese social media platform Weibo.

Much of China’s demographic decline is a result of the one-child policy that was enforced from 1980 to 2015. Even after the authorities lifted this rule, the high cost of raising and educating children is the main reason for children to have children. Chinese less descendants.

Last year, China recorded its lowest ever birth rate, with 6.77 births per 1,000 people.

Jilin in northeastern China, which has one of the lowest birth rates in the country, changed its rules in 2002 to allow single women access to IVFbut this move didn’t make much of a difference as this option continues to is prohibited nationwide based on what the National Health Commission.

Lu Weiying, a member of China’s top political advisory body, told the Global Times this week that she would propose that singles could freeze their eggs as well as to include fertility treatments in the public health insurance system. Currently, IVF is banned and the hours are frozen for single women in China.