Decline of Kindergartens in China for the First Time

According to the Yicai Financial News Network, citing data from the Chinese Ministry of Education, the number of kindergartens in China decreased for the first time in 15 years in 2022, dropping by more than five thousand compared to the previous year. Concerns about the declining population in China led members of the country's top political advisory body to issue more than 20 recommendations to boost the birth rate, as experts suggest that certain measures could help slow the pace of population decline. The Ministry of Education announced on Thursday that there were a total of 289,200 kindergartens nationwide in 2022. Yicai reported that the decline compared to previous years is attributed to a decrease in the number of children enrolled in kindergartens. The site explained that the number of rural kindergartens has declined as populations move to urban areas. One of the main reasons for the population decline in China is the one-child policy imposed by authorities between 1980 and 2015.