Families with children queue up, eagerly awaiting to participate in interactive games in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province on June 1, 2023. Photo: VCG

South China's Guangdong Province has maintained its position as the only province with the number of births surpassing 1 million for four consecutive years, and the province has also been the top performer in terms of births for six consecutive years, official data showed.

Analysts noted that the combination of traditional fertility attitudes and the influx of a young population structure has contributed to Guangdong's continued success in maintaining a leading position in fertility growth. Meanwhile, China still needs long-term policy support, such as developing childcare services to ease the fertility burden on young parents, as most provinces are facing a decline in birth rate. 

According to statistics that have been published by local authorities, a total of 1.03 million births were recorded in 2023 in Guangdong, resulting in a birth rate of 8.12 per thousand. Central China's Henan Province followed behind with 695,000 births, while East China's Shandong Province trailed with 610,000 births, claiming the third spot in the rankings.

In terms of birth rate, among the provinces which have published their population-related data, there are five with a population birth rate exceeding 8 per thousand, namely Guizhou, Hainan, Qinghai, Yunnan, Guangdong, and also the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, mainly located in the country's western and southern regions.

In general, places with higher birth rates tend to have lower urbanization rates. However, there are exceptions, such as Guangdong, which has an urbanization rate of 75.42 percent, ranking fourth in the country, but with a high birth rate of 8.12 per thousand in 2023.

Peng Peng, executive chairman of the Guangdong Society of Reform, said this is because Guangdong has the highest permanent resident population in the country, with a high influx of people from outside the province. The population inflow structure is relatively young, with a high proportion of individuals in the age range for marriage and childbearing, said Peng, who was quoted on Wednesday by Yicai, a business and financial media outlet.

Traditional beliefs about childbirth in Guangdong are also a contributing factor, Mu Guangzong, a professor at Peking University's Institute of Population Research, told the Global Times on Thursday, noting that this cultural factor leads to a higher willingness to have children among people in Guangdong.

South China's Hainan Province also shows a rebound in birth population. The data released by the provincial authority reveals that in 2023, the total number of births in the province was 96,000, an increase of 7,900 from the previous year, and the birth rate was 9.28 per thousand, an increase of 0.68 per thousand points year-on-year.

However, as the birth rate in many Chinese provinces are declining, population experts emphasized the importance of long-term policy support. Liu Zhijun, a professor of sociology at Zhejiang University, told the Global Times on Thursday that it's essential to promote childcare services and enhance public support for child rearing and education. This will alleviate the burden of raising children on young couples, and, as a result, more couples will decide to have children.

In addition to birth-related data, the statistics released by various regions also reveal the trends of growth in the resident population as well as population migration.

Out of the 28 provinces which have published the data, nine have a positive growth in their permanent population. Among them, Zhejiang has a population increase of 500,000 and Guangdong, 490,000, Yicai reported.

Population migration trends indicate that the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta have emerged as the primary destinations for population influx. While within each province, there is a consistent flow of population from small and medium-sized cities and rural areas to central cities. Despite a decrease in total population in some provinces, the population in the provincial capital cities continues to rise.

Liu noted that since the provincial capital city is the center of a province's economy, politics, culture, medical care, as well as education, which also means higher incomes and more job positions, it will attract an influx of people from other cities within the province itself.