Beginning this year, rural families that have only one child or two girls will receive cash awards from the government, reported Tuesday’s People’s Daily.

Zhao Shuqi, a 67-year-old villager from northeast China’s Qiqihar City, and his wife Huang Yuewen were among first beneficiaries of the policy shift. On August 1, they received a certificate of honor and a bankbook from Xu Jialu, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of China’s National People’s Congress (NPC). The couple has one daughter.

Qiqihar is the only pilot city for the new policy in Heilongjiang Province. A total of 5,084 farmers in the greater metropolitan area were found qualified for the award, an annual subsidy no less than 600 yuan (US$73) for life.

To be eligible for the award, the recipient and spouse must both be registered rural residents. In addition, they must have abided by family planning regulations and policies from 1973 through 2001, and currently have either one child, two girls, or no children owing to the death of a child. Both must be at least 60 years of age.

In general, poorer families tend to have more children, which in turn makes them even poorer. The new policy is intended to break that cycle.

The program is being launched on a trial basis this year in four provinces and one municipality in western China (Sichuan, Yunnan, Gansu, Qinghai and Chongqing), and in 10 cities in 10 other provinces (Hebei, Shanxi, Heilongjiang, Jilin, Jiangxi, Anhui, Henan, Hunan, Hubei and Guizhou).

At the conclusion of the trial period, the program will be put into place nationwide.

Pan Guiyu, vice director of the State Population and Family Planning Commission, says that offering incentives to have fewer children is an important move by the central government. Encouraging rural families to follow the family planning policy conscientiously will help to solve the fundamental problem of rural population growth and coordinate social and economic progress.

The shift from punishment for excessive births to encouraging fewer births is a sign of increased respect for human rights with regard to population control, comments demographer Liu Junzhe.

(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2004)