China is trying to encourage marriage and parenthood in order to help boost birth rates and alleviate the problems of its aging population.
Men must currently be 22 before they can marry, and women 20. The limits were set in 1980 as Beijing introduced its draconian one-child policy.
The number of newborns rose in 2016 but dropped again last year, alarming demographers.
Mr Zhang is a hospital executive from Hunan who serves on the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, an advisory body to the national legislature.
He has said that the legal age should be lowered to 18 for men and women alike to “realise sustainable growth of the society”.
He added,
“If a couple should have two children, and given that the best age to conceive, medically speaking, is between 23 and 29, a woman is better off if she gives birth to her second child before she turns 30.”
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