China’s population crisis reflects diminished public trust in government, academics say

To motivate couples to have kids in the face of China’s deepening demographic crisis, Beijing should start by trying to restore the credibility that it lost during the pandemic, according to academics.

Despite a slew of pronatalist policies being rolled out across the country, it will not be easy to restore public trust in the short term, as the government has repeatedly failed to keep its promises, according to Ma Liang, a government affairs professor at Renmin University of China.