China’s ‘condom tax’ sparks backlash as Beijing struggles to reverse population collapse

China will begin charging a 13% value-added tax on contraceptives starting Jan. 1 while exempting childcare services from the same tax, a move authorities say is part of a broader effort to boost births as the country faces a sustained population decline, according to the BBC and The Associated Press.

The tax overhaul, announced late last year, removes exemptions that had been in place since 1994, when China was still enforcing its decades-long one-child policy.

Alongside the new tax...