‘Not about condoms’: Chinese shrug off contraceptive tax

BEIJING — China has made condoms and other contraceptives more expensive as it tries to boost birth rates, but residents in Beijing and analysts say the measure will have little impact. Consumers must now pay a 13 percent value-added tax for contraception including condoms, after Beijing removed exemptions on the products from January 1. Childcare and marriage brokerage services are exempt. The government has sought to boost China’s flagging birth rate, concerned about the rapidly ageing and shrinking population, as well as record low marriage rates. But young people in Beijing told AFP that taxing contraceptives will not address the…