BEIJING, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- As demand for formal childcare continues to grow among Chinese families, young parents are looking for more affordable, convenient and trustworthy services.
China's National Health Commission (NHC) has said efforts are under way to make childcare more accessible, affordable and quality-assured. The country's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) calls for faster development of affordable childcare, including more publicly provided places and a wider range of services.
For many families, the first hurdle is price. In 2023, childcare cost an average of 1,978 yuan (about 293 U.S. dollars) per child a month nationwide, excluding meals. In first-tier cities, monthly fees topped 5,500 yuan, pricing out many families.
In Baiyin, northwest China's Gansu Province, the city's First People's Hospital runs a childcare center where full-day care costs 750 yuan a month, including three meals and two snacks a day.
Baiyin received 100 million yuan in central government funding in 2024 to support affordable childcare. First-time users can also apply for vouchers allowing their children to try a nearby center free for two weeks.
Similar efforts to lower costs are under way elsewhere. Nine provinces have introduced childcare subsidies since 2021, while 1,315 county-level regions have offered support ranging from construction and operating subsidies to family vouchers. Over the same period, average fees for full-day childcare fell 29 percent nationwide.
Broader family support is also expanding. Since 2025, families have been eligible for 3,600 yuan a year for each child until the age of three. Parents can also deduct 2,000 yuan per child each month from taxable income for children under the age of 3.
Location matters too, especially for families with very young children. Ma Liejian, vice president and member of the Secretariat of the All-China Women's Federation, has called for qualified kindergartens to extend services to younger children and for communities to offer full-day, half-day, hourly and temporary childcare close to home.
In Beijing, 562 public kindergartens have added nursery classes this year, creating more than 10,000 new places for children aged 2 to 3 and giving more families access to childcare closer to home.
Baiyin is following a similar approach. As of April 2025, the city's Baiyin District had 15 registered childcare providers, 13 of them nursery classes in kindergartens, offering a total of 1,360 places.
Changsha, capital of central China's Hunan Province, is building a "15-minute childcare service circle" using community space, kindergarten classrooms and workplace facilities.
Proximity alone, however, does not solve the problem for parents whose working hours fall outside a conventional childcare day. Yang Fan, vice dean of Renmin University of China's School of Population and Health, said more flexible services, including hourly and holiday care, could better meet the needs of parents in flexible employment or shift work.
At a technology park in Shanghai's Yangpu District, an on-site childcare center offers full-day, half-day and hourly care. One project manager said he once booked temporary care through an app just two hours before an unexpected client meeting.
In rural Pingdu in east China's Shandong Province, a childcare center converted from unused village property near agricultural greenhouses operates around the clock, giving farming families an option outside conventional daytime hours.
For parents of very young children, trust can matter just as much as price or convenience.
The same hospital-run center in Baiyin accepts babies as young as three months. Opened in 2021 with 100 places, it has more than 20 certified caregivers. It keeps health records for children and draws on hospital resources for visits by medical experts and multidisciplinary services.
Safety is also receiving greater attention at the national level. A draft law on childcare services, submitted to China's national legislature for a first reading in December 2025, includes provisions governing the licensing of childcare providers, staffing, monitoring and emergency response.
Zhang Li, deputy dean of the Law School at the China University of Political Science and Law, said the proposed licensing system would allow regulators to screen providers before they begin operating. Requirements for public information disclosure, she said, could also improve transparency, help parents better understand the services on offer and strengthen their confidence in sending children to childcare centers.
The draft law's proposal to gradually incorporate inclusive childcare services into the scope of basic public services would strengthen the public-service role of childcare and the government's responsibility for its provision, providing legal support for more stable long-term development, according to He Dan, director of the China Population and Development Research Center under the NHC.
In Baiyin, Guo Jianna and her husband are both busy with work, and all three of their children have spent time at the childcare center run by Baiyin's First People's Hospital.
Shortly before 5 p.m., Xu Xiaoqin, who oversees the center, began getting the children ready for dinner. By the time Guo arrived to pick up her 2-year-old daughter, the girl had eaten and was ready to go home.
"With professional caregivers looking after them, my family and I feel reassured," Guo said. ■
