The local government of Yichang, Central China's Hubei Province, is urging employees working in the public sector to give birth to a second child, according to a recently released open letter.
The letter, published on the official website of the city's health and family planning commission on Sunday, encouraged members of the Communist Party of China and the Communist Youth League of China working in the public sector to follow the two-child policy, calling for "young employees to start with themselves and elderly workers to educate and encourage their children."
"[Yichang] city has been entering a period of low fertility, with every woman giving birth to less than one child on average. If this situation continues, it will ... lead to population aging, a shortage of labor and reverse urbanization, therefore affecting the city's competitive power," read the letter.
The letter also explained the advantages of giving birth to two children and the risks of having only one child.
The local government also pledged to provide benefits such as longer maternity leave, free premarital and gynecological check-ups and counseling for women of more advanced age.
