THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THOSE WHO SHOW UP: Beijing in crisis as China faces a child-free future.

Advanced economies around the world have the same problem with ageing populations. However, the issue has been exacerbated by China’s one child policy, says Louise Loo, of Oxford Economics, which compelled couples to have only one child between 1980 and 2016.

Births have languished even after the policy was scrapped, falling to a record low of 6.77 births per 1000 people last year.

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS, says: “It is easier to limit growth in population by repressive means. It is much more difficult to get people to have more children by the order of the Government.”

Officials last month urged regional chiefs to come up with “bold innovations” to boost the fertility rate, reflecting the growing panic about this demographic time bomb.

China also faces permanent scarring from Covid. Beijing’s zero Covid policy, which dragged on for far longer than the rest of the world, cost it 4.7 per cent of GDP, says Loo.

“Some of that is permanently lost,” she adds.

China’s population is expected to halve by 2100 — at best.