China’s economy meets annual growth target despite US trade war but birth rate drops to record low

By Simone McCarthy, John Liu, CNN Beijing (CNN) — China clocked its lowest birth rate on record in 2025 as its population shrank for the fourth year in a row, deepening a demographic challenge that could drag on the world’s second-largest economy for decades to come. The rate fell to 5.63 births per 1,000 people