New Delhi, Dec. 12 -- China will soon start collecting a value-added tax on contraceptive drugs and products for the first time in over three decades, a move aligned with Beijing's effort to get families to have more children after decades of limiting most to one child.

"Contraceptive drugs and products" will not be tax-exempt as of Jan. 1, according to the country's newest value-added tax law. Products such as condoms will be subject to the usual 13% value-added tax imposed on most products.

While state-run news outlets have not widely highlighted the change, it has been trending on Chinese social media, drawing ridicule among people who joked they'd have to be fools not to know that raising a child is more expensive than using condoms...