The Chinese company behind Skyscanner and Trip.com will hand its employees £5,000 if they have more children in an effort to turn around the country’s plummeting birth rate.

James Liang, Trip.com group company’s founder and chairman, announced that staff will receive an annual cash bonus of RMB 10,000 (£1,090) for every newborn until they reach the age of five.

The move is part of the company’s £100m global drive to support parents among its 30,000 workforce, including its British Trip.com employees.

It is understood that Skyscanner staff based in Edinburgh will not benefit because the company has operated as a separate entity since it was bought by the Chinese firm in 2016.

Mr Liang, a demographer, has long warned about the economic consequences of falling birth rates.

He said: “We aim to provide financial support that will encourage our employees to start or grow their families without compromising on their professional goals and achievements.”

China’s population fell for the first time in six decades in 2022 amid a sharp decline in the country’s birth rate. Last year, there were just 6.77 births for every 1,000 people in the world’s second-largest economy.