Condoms and other contraceptives are set to become more expensive in China, as the Communist Party tries to boost population growth.

With the economy slowing, birth rates declining and the population ageing, the government is now trying all kinds of ways to make women have more babies – from taxing contraception, to new laws on marriages, to cash bonuses and propaganda campaigns.

Reproduction is now seen as a national security issue, and the success or failure of the new policies will have far-reaching consequences – for China’s economic and military strength, and for countries like Australia, who rely on China continuing to grow.

Today, senior analyst at the Mercator Institute for China Studies, Daria Impiombato – on the threat to women’s autonomy in China’s new phase of population control.

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Guest: Senior analyst at The Mercator Institute for China Studies, Daria Impiombato

Photo: CFOTO/Sipa USA

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Tom West, Amity Shlaes, & Collin Barnes