China's latest cry for more babies may fall on deaf ears

"Having three children is the best," says a vibrant neon pink sign at a wedding expo in the southern Chinese city of Changsha, where visitors can also pick up tips on tying the knot and men can strap on a pregnancy belly to experience childbirth pain.

• Marriage-themed festival sparks criticism for being regressive and insulting to women

The marriage-themed festival comes at a time when China is looking to spur weddings and births to counter a shrinking population, but it has drawn thin crowds and sparked criticism for being regressive and disparaging towards women as well as for putting people off marriage - contrary to the government's aim.

Social media users called out slogans at the expo such as "housework is the best", "best at raising kids" and "best at tutoring homework" for reinforcing gender stereotypes.

"The slogans are all aimed at women. Shouldn't sharing housework be the right thing to do?" said a user with the handle Jianguo on China's Weibo platform.

A user with the handle Xiaohong on social e-commerce site Xiaohongshu, known as China's answer to Instagram, wrote that the festival had probably "persuaded a lot of hesitant people to give up marriage".

The number of marriage registrations in China in the first three quarters of 2024 dropped 16.6 per cent year on year to 4.75 million couples, according to the Ministry of Civil Affairs.

Beijing rallied local governments just last week to direct resources towards urging people to marry and have children "at the right age".