China makes strides in promoting child development and fertility-friendly society: association

The China Family Planning Association announced recently that it has made significant strides in promoting child development and fostering a fertility-friendly society over the past year.

Yu Xuejun, the standing vice-president of CFPA, said that in 2025, the association upgraded more than 4,000 facilities nationwide focused on early childhood education and parent-child activities for families with children under 3. The emphasis was on expanding access to affordable, community-based childcare services.

The CFPA also launched a WeChat mini-program providing information and navigation for services such as premarital checkups, prenatal screenings, painless delivery, assisted reproduction, and childcare. According to Yu, this platform has attracted over 1.6 million registered users and facilitated more than 10 million service sessions. He spoke during CFPA's the annual work meeting held in Beijing on Friday.

Last year, CFPA organized over 50,000 activities aimed at disseminating knowledge on improving birth outcomes and child development. These included prenatal classes, parent-child events, parenting workshops, and door-to-door visits, engaging more than 300,000 families with infants and young children.

As part of efforts to cultivate a new culture around marriage and childbearing, the association established over 460 themed parks nationwide. These parks served as integrated community spaces for policy promotion, cultural activities, and public education.

Additionally, the CFPA implemented youth health services in more than 10,000 primary and secondary schools, nearly 1,000 universities, and 3,200 related clubs, benefiting over 10 million young people.

The association also conducted a major survey on building a fertility-friendly society, collecting insights from over 80,000 urban and rural residents across 29 provincial-level regions to inform future policy adjustments.

Looking ahead to 2026, the association plans to intensify its efforts to build a fertility-friendly society. This includes promoting positive views on marriage and childbearing, enhancing reproductive health services, and providing guidance to improve birth outcomes and child development.