(Yicai) Aug. 8 -- Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, has joined several other Chinese cities in its attempt to reverse the aging population by introducing cash subsidies of up to CNY25,000 (USD3,477) for families with three children.

In addition to the CNY5,000 (USD693) maternity allowance, the eastern city will transfer CNY20,000 to families that brought their third child into the world since Jan. 1, the municipal health commission announced yesterday. For a second child, the city will give a CNY5,000 subsidy and a CNY2,000 maternity allowance. Transfers are set to start on Sept. 10.

China needs more children as last year, the country's population dropped for the first time in the past 61 years while the birth rate fell to 0.677 percent, according to official statistics. In 2021, the nation started allowing married couples to have as many as three children after the one-child policy was removed in 2016.

Other cities are also seeking to increase their stroller populations. Tianmen, a city in central China, released a new policy this month to deliver families with two or three kids, born in the next three years after Sept. 1, a subsidy of CNY50,000 or CNY100,000 (USD6,934 to USD13,868) to buy a new home in the city in Hubei province.

Giving families with more than one child house purchase subsidies will cut their costs and improve their living conditions, which will play a great role in easing the pressure on buying real estate, especially for families in small and medium-sized cities, Zhang Bo, director of a branch of the 58 Anjuke Institute, said to Yicai.

Even some companies are welcoming more maternity leaves. Shanghai-based travel agency Trip.Com said in June it will pay CNY10,000 per year to long-term employees for each new child until they are five years old.

Local governments must make greater efforts to encourage childbirth, especially regarding the first child, Dong Yuzheng, guest researcher at the Counselors' Office of the provincial government of Guangdong, said to Yicai. Young people are unwilling to give birth to even one child, so policies to encourage childbirth should be shifted to first focus on the first child, he added.

Editors: Dou Shicong, Emmi Laine