BEIJING (Reuters). Jilin is offering bank loans to married couples of northeast China of as much as 200,000 yuan ($31.400) if they are parents of children. It joins other provinces that have financial incentives for reducing the declining number of people.

The Jilin government announced that certain small-scale businesses established by married couples who have two to three children, will be exempted from value-added tax increases and reduced exemptions.

China’s demographic problems are especially prominent in three Northeastern Rustbelt Provinces, Jilin and Liaoning. Residents ventured to these provinces to find work, while married couples waited to get married or planned to start a family.

By 2020, 10.3% of the population in this region was less than it was in 2010. Jilin fell 12.7%

After China announced in May that they would let married couples have three children, the provinces were given more encouragement to address demographic problems.

This decision was made after a Census report showed that China’s population grew at the slowest rate in 10 years since 1950. It raised concerns about China becoming old and making it more difficult to get rich.

China’s fertility rate was also revealed by official data in recent years. It is on the same level as greying societies such Japan and Italy, but lower than that of China.

Anhui, eastern China, warned in October that there could be a 17.8% drop in births starting in 2020. This is a continuation of the “cliff-like” decline in recent years.

Jilin said that it would also increase the length of paid maternity leaves to 180 days (98 days) and men’s nursing leave from 15 to 25, joining other provinces in revising laws to permit more paternity and maternity leave.

($1 = 6.3704 renminbi)