Three stories that reveal China’s population collapse

And that bring us to the core problem. China's population collapse. We know decades of the one child policy have left China aging fast and then co casualties dealt in another blow. Now the number of adults of childbearing age has plunged. Birth rates have crashed and kindergartens and daycare centers are closing nationwide. And this is reported by state media. I covered this as well. Right. The collapse is showing up somewhere else. It's showing up somewhere that no one expected. Guess where in health care and according to Sina Finance this is China's own media Chinese hospitals once overcrowded are closing down in large numbers the entire sector is losing money most private hospitals are unprofitable and nearly half of public hospitals are also in the red is according the Chinese press and in 2024 China recorded 312 million hospitalizations a rate of 21.4% much higher than in most developed nations. Yet last year over 1,200 hospital bankruptcy filings were recorded in 2024. It it's for total. We don't know how much how how much of that is for private hospitals and how much for for public hospitals. But the next statistics we have is the closure rate for private hospitals rose from 7.2% 2% in 2023 to 20% in 2024. And then in 2025, the pace doubled by mid year 1,247 private hospitals had already shut down. That's about seven per day. It It's unbelievable. And even the public hospitals weren't spared. I mean, they're just not giving us data on the public hospital closures, but we know that at least 10 across multiple provinces have been forced to merge. Some hospitals like this one. Oh yeah, this is a picture of showing how empty the hospitals, Chinese hospitals are. So this one, this is a major hospital. It's called Lu Shinan Hospital. It was built with 2 billion yuan and it was built to serve 50 million people across three provinces. It went bankrupt this year, uh, leaving 1.26 billion UN in debt and 600 unpaid employees. And across the country, medical staff are protesting unpaid wages. I'll just show you some of the examples. This one is um called is ini province, the second hospital in uh Buang Lake closed after eight months of salary delays. People weren't paid for eight months and then it folded. And then uh January 16th of this year, one of the top 100 hospitals in China, it's the Wuhan Maternity Hospital suspended operations. This is due to the uh the declined fertility rate. And then last October, you see here uh staff held banners reading we need to live after 9 months without pay. Now these are public hospitals. These are not private hospitals. And the root cause, population loss. Just like kindergartens closed because there were fewer newborns and fewer children, hospitals are not closing because there are just fewer people. Period. Um, if hospitals can't find enough patients to stay open, it means one thing and one thing only. The population has fallen even faster than anyone predicted. With this amount of hospitals closing, it gave us a reality check of China's population decline. So, what is Beijing doing about it? They're trying everything to encourage marriage. The government has simplified registration procedures. Couples can now register and get married anywhere in China without even needing their ID or the household registration card. Um so some cities have taken this to extremes setting up marriage booth in parks, shopping malls, subway stations and yes even nightclubs. That's right, nightclubs. And this is happening in where? In the most westernized country in China. Here we go. In Shanghai. In Shanghai, officials literally believe that after a few drinks, couples might decide to get married at nightclubs and the government will be there to make it happen. So, on November 4th, Sina Finance reported that Shanghai's Hu district uh their civil affairs bureau launched a limited time, it's it's a pilot project called nighttime marriage certificate experience. They're offering that at a local nightclub. Couples could legally marry there, complete with a wedding concage desk that guides them through every step from signing in to all the way to receiving their certificate. All to create a quote unquote smooth and romantic experience. And there was even a state of mind confirmation. Yeah, there's a step in the process uh called state of mind confirmation to ensure what? to ensure both parties were sober and fully consenting to avoid what they called impulsive regrets. As we say in Chinese, the very act of denying something makes it obvious. Well, who would believe people at a nightclub could be sober and not impulsive. All right, so that's what the CCP is doing. And at the same time, Beijing has begun tying marriage and birth rates to local officials performance reviews. In other words, getting people married and having babies is now a political KPI. All over the country, cities are offering marriage vouchers and cash rewards. Inbu for example, newly wetss can receive 1,000 yen in vouchers for wedding related expenses. Other cities offer between 800 and 1,000. I mean, compared with the wedding costs, this is nothing, you know. So, the reaction was very or is very cynical. People wrote, "What we lack isn't vouchers, it's confidence in marriage." And another person wrote, "1,000 yen coupon. Staying single saves me 700,000." Others wrote, "They're not helping you getting married. They're just trying to make you spend." So to slow the population decline, the CCP has also introduced fertility subsidies. So for example, this July people uh the party's central office and the state council issued the child care subsidy implementation plan offering 3,600 y per child per year but only up to age three. And then in August, Beijing also announced free kindergarten tuition for the final year. Well, finally, what about the the other the earlier years? So, and in some places like um in Kubay, newlyweds can apply for a 59,000 y housing subsidy when they buy a new home while families with second and third children get 800 and 1,000 yen per month, respectively. But again, the public isn't buying it. When property prices are so high and living expenses soaring, these subsidies mean almost nothing. So now uh across China even teachers and public employees are being pressured to have more kids. And one teacher said that her principal and union regularly remind her to consider a second child and that the number of children you have now affects promotions. But despite all the propaganda and incentives, people still aren't marrying and still aren't having children. Why? Because the problem isn't just financial, it's societal and moral. Let me give you one example. This story um is about a man whose last name is Ju. Okay, so he's from Shangi. So his name he's known online as Shiao. He had been dating his girlfriend for years. At age 35, that's in 2023. He finally saved 188,000 yen for the bride's price. You know that the money that you that the future the groom needs to give to his future parents-in-law. So he finally saved the 188,000 yen for that money after years of hard work and sacrifice. Then before just before the wedding, the bride's family suddenly demanded an extra 30,000 yen for the so-called three golds, meaning a gold ring, a gold necklace, and gold earrings. That broke him. His monthly income was only 4,000 yen a month. He lived very frugally, eating like steamed buns, renting a tiny room to live in and even borrowed 20,000 yen from France to reach his goal. That's how he had been living. And so when he tried to reason with his girlfriend, she said, "All my girlfriends have the three goals." And that was it. He canceled the wedding and he walked away from the relationship alto together and from the life he had planned. And on social media he wrote, "If this money isn't for my wedding, what can I do with it?" And and he said and then he he said, "I want to see the world." And then so he used part part of the money he he saved for the wedding or for the for his future wife and started traveling in China toward China. uh he took a a time off and traveled in China. He even changed his username to traveling China with 188,000 yen. All right, that story is heartbreaking, but it's very real. It it speaks the reality of China today. And another case came from this young woman. Uh it's not her, but she was telling the story of one of her friends. She was talking about her friend's failed wedding negotiations. And she said, "The bride's side insist insists on 188,000 yen. The groom's side offered 88. The the young couple love each other dearly, but their parents refused to compromise. Both families were described as controlling and doineering. Neither young person dared to marry without approval. And so the marriage remains in question not for lack of love but for a lack of freedom. So that's the real problem in China today. China has lost the moral and cultural foundation that once held families um and loved ones together. Decades of communist ideology and extreme materialism have eroded trust, sincerity and the meaning of relationship, love and and marriage. So that's the China the CCP built and the China it is now desperately trying to