Xi Urges China Women’s Group to Cultivate ‘Childbirth Culture’

  • Calls on women’s group to help promote ‘culture’ of childbirth
  • Women were left off powerful Politburo in leadership shuffle

Children play in a river-side park in Shanghai.

Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg
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President Xi Jinping underscored his concerns — and more conservative social views — about China’s shrinking population in a speech calling on a key women’s organization to help bolster the nation’s birthrate by promoting a “culture” of childbirth.

Xi urged the All China Women’s Federation — a government-led organization — to “actively cultivate a new marriage and childbirth culture, strengthen guidance of young people’s views on marriage, parenthood and family, as well as promote policies to support childbirth” at a meeting on Monday, according to state broadcaster CCTV.