China's birth rate hits record low as government calls women about pregnancy

China is experiencing a demographic crisis, recording only nine million births in 2023, the lowest since 1949. In response, government workers are calling women to ask if they are pregnant and encouraging them to have children. This approach marks a significant shift from past policies that enforced strict birth control measures. Previously, the one-child policy imposed fines for families with more than one child until it was abolished in 2020. The decline in births is attributed to a low fertility rate of 1.09 in 2022 and an aging population, with projections indicating that one-third of the population will be over 60 by 2035.