James Kynge

And perhaps because, you know, the U.S.

is now taking a softer tone on China altogether.

Well, I mean, they say that two things in life are certain, death and taxes.

And I also think it's the case that you can really see what a country intends for its people by looking how it taxes them.

So although the authorities in China have not said that this tax on contraceptives, including condoms, is part of its pro-natal policies, it certainly looks like that because it's

there will be value added tax imposed on condoms and other contraceptives up to the usual 13% from next year.

And actually, if you look at the context around this, it really does look like this is an intentional move to boost the number of kids being born in China.

It will end a 33-year tax exemption

on contraceptives that was first introduced under China's one-child policy.

And conversely, while they're putting taxes on contraceptives, they're taking taxes off matchmaking services.

So it looks to me like this is all of a package.

It looks to me like basically China is going as full speed ahead as possible to get women to have more kids.

And...

I think the reasons for that are so abundantly clear.

And Alice, you have many friends in China.

You will know the stories there really well.

But just the very stark statistic at the top is that China's fertility rate is now about one birth per woman.

That was in 2024.

That's far below the replacement level of 2.1.

It's not actually the very lowest in the world.