I have thought about this question for a long time, and now I am writing it out.
First, let's look at the cost of raising children. For Chinese people, this cost can be described as high, and I won't go into details as Chinese people should understand.
Second, let's analyze the significance of having children. For most people, this significance mainly lies in two aspects.
Firstly, it is to experience the joy of raising children and enjoy family happiness. Once you have children, you can enjoy family happiness, but it is also very hard. The time and energy spent on other things will be reduced. Those without children can use this time and energy to do other things and experience a different life. Because they invest more time and energy, they may also do better.
Secondly, the concept of leaving a legacy or continuing the family line is deeply rooted in the minds of most Chinese people. Many Chinese people raise children for the purpose of leaving a legacy. However, in my opinion, this concept is a bit ignorant and ridiculous. Imagine that your child inherits your bloodline and genes, but their mind is filled with someone else's thoughts. It's like building a nest your whole life and letting someone else live in it. Unfortunately, this is the case for most people. If you agree with what is in your child's mind, then it's fine. But if not, how would you face it? Especially for Chinese people, this situation is even more serious. For example, if you identify with universal values outside the wall, but your child is brainwashed by school education inside the wall and becomes a "little pink," you spend all your savings to send them to school, but they become the kind of person you dislike. Can you bear this situation? How would you face it? Can you decide which ideas your child accepts? Some people find meaning in propagating their offspring, while others want to discover or create unprecedented things and leave behind timeless works. French writer Romain Rolland said, "The true continuation of humanity is not established through blood ties." Objectively speaking, the continuation of humanity can be divided into two types: genetic continuation and spiritual continuation. Most people achieve genetic continuation, while only a few achieve spiritual continuation. Human progress relies on spiritual continuation. Having only genetic continuation is no different from animals. For example, genetic continuation provides the soil, while spiritual continuation provides the seeds, which eventually grow into towering trees and bear the fruits of human civilization. I want to know how many people are willing to be the soil and not willing to be the seeds or the towering trees. How many people are only willing to leave behind their genes and not willing to make achievements in the spiritual realm?
Finally, if you were given the chance to be reborn, would you still want to be born in China? If not, why would you force your child to suffer in this hard mode country, unless you have the ability to send them abroad.
The following image vividly describes the living conditions of Chinese people.
(Image from りく)
So after all that, as a Chinese person, should you have children or not? I believe the answer to this question depends on your own abilities and understanding of the meaning of life. I think in addition to raising children, a person should also do something else in their life, otherwise, their life would be too meaningless. However, the reality is that most Chinese people exhaust their time, energy, and savings just by raising children. From the results, they are only tools for the continuation of the race, laboring their whole lives just to leave behind descendants. It's not a big deal if they haven't achieved anything else in their lives, but what's terrifying is that they leave their descendants in hell, as described in the image above. So for myself, if I don't have the ability to help my child escape this earthly hell, I won't bring them into this world.
Don't forget that besides propagating offspring, there is also the inheritance of the spirit that is worth looking forward to and striving for. And I believe the latter is more remarkable and worth putting effort into.
I know a well-known Chinese person in contemporary times who doesn't want children and considers the continuation of the spirit as their lifelong pursuit. That person is writer Wang Xiaobo. Those who don't want or can't afford children can take inspiration from his words:
"To not leave behind something puzzling for future generations is simply a waste of life."
"A person should not only have this life and this world, but also have a poetic world."