A warning of higher condom prices by the world’s top maker has gone viral in China with the hashtag “condom prices rising” garnering more than 60 million views by yesterday on Chinese social media and stoking talk of stockpiling.
The Iran crisis has impacted facets of everyday life for people around the world and many Chinese took to social media platform Sina Weibo to bemoan that it was now even invading the bedroom.
The wave of online comments was sparked by the CEO of condom maker Karex Bhd, Goh Miah Kiat, who said the Malaysian company planned to raise prices by 20 to 30 percent and possibly more if supply chain disruptions due to the Iran war drag on.
Photo: Reuters
Many online comments said higher prices would not deter them from buying condoms to protect against pregnancy. Others urged buyers to stockpile.
“A few dozen yuan for a condom is a hundred times more cost-effective than raising a child at a million yuan [US$146,524],” one user said.
“From now on, not only will we have to be frugal, but we’ll also have to stock up on condoms in advance,” another said.
The online conversations erupted in the past 24 hours and came as Chinese authorities are trying a range of policy measures to boost the country’s flagging birthrate, which has been falling for decades, to offset an aging population. Last year, births hit a record low.
Karex produces more than 5 billion condoms annually and is a supplier to leading brands such as Durex and Trojan.
A price rise for condoms would add to the already increasing cost of family planning in China.
At the start of the year, China removed a three-decade-old tax exemption on contraceptive drugs and devices. Condoms and contraceptive pills are subject to a value-added tax of 13 percent, the standard rate for most consumer goods.
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