How to boost the birth rate? National People's Congress delegate and Buchang Pharmaceutical's Zhao Jing: Recommend establishing a diversified support system for infertility treatment

This article is sourced from Times Finance. Author: Du Sumin

At the 2026 National People’s Congress, Zhao Jing, Vice Chairman of Bosheng Pharmaceutical (603858.SH) and a National People’s Congress delegate, presented eight proposals focusing on the traditional Chinese medicine industry, ginseng sector, women’s rights, and other topics. Among them, the proposal titled “Using Women’s Reproductive Health Throughout the Full Cycle as a Key to Systematically Improving Birth Rates” (hereafter referred to as “the Proposal”) has attracted particular attention.

In the Proposal, Zhao Jing pointed out that women’s reproductive health is a core variable determining birth rates. It encompasses services across the entire life cycle and chain, including reproductive health protection during adolescence, disease prevention and treatment during childbearing years, reproductive services, and health management during menopause. It also includes critical aspects such as infertility screening, diagnosis, and assisted treatment.

Currently, China is in a critical period of population structure transformation. This transition presents both challenges and opportunities to promote changes in development methods. The government work report emphasizes “investment in both material and human resources,” and has outlined strategic plans to “build a fertility-friendly society and improve the population service system.” Supporting high-quality population development is essential for China’s modernization, and ensuring women’s reproductive health and reducing childbirth burdens can better stabilize birth rates.

The effectiveness of fertility policies depends not only on willingness but also on capacity—“wanting to have children but unable to, and being afraid to have children” has become a significant obstacle to realizing reproductive potential. Zhao Jing stated that damage to reproductive capacity leading to “inability to conceive,” and the high pain, costs, and uncertainties associated with infertility and assisted treatments, cause “fear,” and the combination of these factors causes some families who want children to give up their plans. In the long term, this not only weakens individual willingness to reproduce but may also impact societal confidence in having children, thereby directly affecting the realization of the country’s high-quality population development strategy.

[Photo source: Bosheng Pharmaceutical]

To systematically address the shortcomings in women’s reproductive protection, reduce related burdens, and promote high-quality population development, Zhao Jing proposed comprehensive solutions from three dimensions: protecting women’s reproductive capacity, establishing a diverse support system for infertility treatment, and creating a fertility-friendly environment.

She pointed out that current gaps in protecting women’s reproductive capacity mainly manifest in two areas. First, in some regions, there is excessive treatment of reproductive core organs during medical practice. Data shows that over 1.2 million ovarian removal surgeries are performed globally each year, with 28.7% lacking clear medical indications, and the median patient age being only 45. Second, the screening coverage for “two cancers” (cervical and breast cancer) among women of appropriate age still has significant room for improvement, with cervical cancer screening rate at only 51.5%. Early diagnosis and treatment efficiency are greatly affected, and some women choose aggressive treatments that further damage reproductive capacity.

To address these issues, Zhao Jing suggested three measures: first, optimize medical income and responsibility mechanisms, such as deepening reforms of public hospital compensation systems, establishing a salary system centered on job responsibilities and service quality, and reducing reliance on invasive treatments for income; second, standardize reproductive health diagnosis and treatment behaviors by developing technical guidelines for protective treatment of core organs, establishing second-opinion systems for major surgeries, and introducing third-party review mechanisms for surgeries that may cause permanent reproductive damage; third, improve screening and health education systems.

In infertility treatment, women bear multiple physiological and psychological pressures. For assisted reproductive treatments, ovulation-stimulating drugs may cause ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome, and egg retrieval procedures can cause direct trauma to reproductive organs. Additionally, the median cost per cycle exceeds 60,000 yuan, with most families requiring multiple cycles, leading to total expenses often reaching hundreds of thousands of yuan. Repeated failures can cause psychological trauma, and frequent leave from work during treatment risks hindering career advancement.

To alleviate women’s multiple burdens, Zhao Jing recommended establishing a nationwide unified medical insurance payment guide for assisted reproductive technologies, promoting direct settlement for out-of-town medical treatment, and encouraging commercial health insurance to develop dedicated products. She also suggested implementing a “multidisciplinary collaborative service model” that includes psychological counseling as a routine part of treatment, offering mandatory courses at “IVF schools,” allowing remote consultations via internet hospitals for stable patients, and building regional reproductive health information platforms to reduce patient travel and repeated examinations.

“Women are the key bearers of reproductive risks, treatment burdens, and employment instability,” Zhao Jing stated. However, current medical behaviors related to fertility lack workplace protections, and societal biases against infertility persist.

Therefore, Zhao Jing called for strengthening social coordination and institutional safeguards to create a fertility-friendly environment. For example, refining rights protections for medical leave related to reproductive treatments, encouraging employers to offer flexible work arrangements and remote work options; establishing special social support funds to provide living subsidies for those taking long leaves for treatment; popularizing knowledge about assisted reproduction to eliminate prejudice and discrimination, and fostering a society that is understanding and inclusive.