The ideal worker at the Chinese chemical manufacturer, according to the internal memo, is hardworking, virtuous and loyal. And — perhaps most important — willing to have children for the good of the country.

根据内部备忘录，这家中国化工企业的理想员工要勤劳善德，忠孝仁义。也许最重要的是，他们愿意为了国家的利益而生孩子。

That was the message that the company, Shandong Shuntian Chemical Group, sent to unmarried employees recently, in a notice that spread widely on social media. It instructed them to start families by Sept. 30, or else.

这是山东舜天化工集团公司最近向未婚员工发出的信息，在社交媒体上广泛传播。它指示员工在9月30日之前组建家庭，否则就会被开除。

“If you cannot get married and start a family within three quarters, the company will terminate your labor contract,” the memo said.

“三季度内完不成的，个人要离职，”备忘录说。

Shandong Shuntian was not the first company to try to dictate its employees’ personal lives amid rising concern about China’s plummeting marriage and birth rates. Weeks earlier, a popular supermarket chain had told its staff not to ask for betrothal gifts, to lower the cost of weddings.

随着人们对中国急剧下降的结婚率和出生率日益担忧，山东舜天并不是第一家试图控制员工个人生活的公司。几周前，一家颇受欢迎的连锁超市告诉员工不要索要彩礼，以降低婚礼成本。

Both orders were widely criticized, for many of the same reasons that people are refusing to start families in the first place. Besides the economic cost of having children, many young Chinese cite a desire for personal autonomy. They reject the traditional idea that their families should direct their lives, and they certainly aren’t inclined to let their employers have a say.

这两项通知都受到了广泛的批评，而人们对此的不满，很多时候和他们拒绝组建家庭的原因是相通的。除了生育孩子的经济成本外，许多中国年轻人还表示，他们渴望个人自主权。他们拒绝让家庭来左右生活的传统观念，当然也不希望让雇主指手画脚。

Last year, 6.1 million Chinese couples got married — a 20 percent decline from a year earlier, and the fewest since the government began releasing statistics in 1986. China’s population has fallen for three straight years.

去年，中国有610万对夫妇结婚，比前一年下降了20%，这是自1986年政府开始发布统计数据以来的最低水平。中国人口已经连续三年下降。

The authorities have been trying to reverse those trends. Officials have visited women at home to ask whether they plan to get pregnant; published propaganda claiming that pregnancy can make women smarter; and called for creating a “fertility-friendly social atmosphere,” including in workplaces.

当局一直在努力扭转这些趋势。官员们到女性家中拜访，询问她们是否计划怀孕；公开宣传怀孕能让女性更聪明；并呼吁营造一个“生育友好社会氛围”，包括在工作场所。

Some companies seem eager to comply.

一些公司似乎做出了积极的响应。

The notice from the chemical company, which began circulating online last month, was directed at unmarried employees between the ages of 28 and 58, including divorced workers.

这家化工公司的通知于上月开始在网上流传，它针对的是28至58岁的未婚员工，包括离婚员工。

“Not responding to the call of the country, not marrying and having children, is disloyal,” the memo said.

“不响应国家号召不娶妻生子，是为不忠，”备忘录说。

As online ridicule grew, the company quickly backtracked. Reached by phone, a woman at its headquarters said the notice had been retracted, and that the local government had ordered the company to undergo “rectification.” She refused to answer further questions. Local labor officials could not be reached for comment.

随着网络上的嘲笑增多，该公司很快反悔了。记者通过电话联系到该公司总部的一位女士，她说该通知已被撤回，当地政府已下令公司进行“整改”。她拒绝回答进一步的问题。记者无法联系到当地劳动部门官员置评。

Years ago, when the Chinese authorities wanted to limit births, they resorted to coercive measures like forced abortions and sterilizations. (The city where the chemical company is based, Linyi, was particularly notorious for such tactics.) Now that Beijing is trying to do the opposite, it is taking a softer approach, perhaps to avoid setting off large-scale resistance.

数年前，当中国当局想要限制生育时，他们采取强迫堕胎和绝育等强制措施。（这家化工公司所在的临沂市尤其以这种策略而臭名昭著）。现在，北京正试图反其道而行之，但或许是为了避免引发大规模的反抗，这次采取了一种较为温和的方式。

中国人口已连续三年下降。

But officials have signaled support for some companies’ meddling, as in the case of the supermarket chain Pangdonglai.

但官员们对一些公司的干预表示支持，比如连锁超市胖东来。

The chain’s founder, Yu Donglai, wrote on social media in November that he would soon forbid employees to exchange “bride prices” — payments, sometimes amounting to tens of thousands of dollars, that a man traditionally gives to his future wife’s family. Critics of the practice, including the government, have argued that it makes marriage unaffordable for many men.

这家连锁店的创始人于东来去年11月在社交媒体上写道，他将很快禁止员工索要或支付“彩礼”——传统上男人要交给未来妻子家庭的钱，有时可高达几十万元。包括政府在内的批评者认为，这种做法使得许多男性无法负担婚姻。

Employees would also not be allowed to invite more than five tables of guests to their weddings, Mr. Yu said.

于东来说，员工在婚礼上邀请的宾客也不得超过五桌。

Some commenters accused him of overstepping. But People’s Daily, the ruling Communist Party’s official mouthpiece, defended him. The rules were “intended to promote a new trend of civilized marriage,” it said in a commentary. “Its guiding significance is worth paying attention to.”

一些评论者指责他多管闲事。但执政的共产党官方喉舌《人民日报》为他辩护。该机构在一篇评论中表示，这些规定“本意在倡导文明嫁娶新风尚”，“其导向意义值得关注。”

Pangdonglai formalized the new rules in January. Employees who don’t comply will retain basic benefits but be ineligible for additional ones, like extended leave.

今年1月，胖东来正式制定了新规定。不遵守规定的员工将保留基本福利，但没有资格享受延长休假等额外福利。

Some social media users speculated that the recent announcements were disguised cost-cutting measures, or dismissed them as the whims of entrepreneurs. Both Pangdonglai and the chemical company are private, not state-owned.

一些社交媒体用户推测，近期这些公告是变相的成本削减措施，也有人将其斥为企业家的心血来潮。胖东来和那家化工公司都是私营的，不是国有企业。

But the fact that companies felt comfortable issuing such edicts reflects the broader social environment, suggesting that they thought the orders would be well received, said Lu Pin, a Chinese feminist scholar and activist.

但中国女权主义学者和活动人士吕频表示，企业能够如此轻松自信地发布这样的命令，表明它们认为这些命令会受到欢迎，这反映了更广泛的社会环境。

Rather than issue its own orders, the government might prefer to create social pressure to have children, Ms. Lu said. If people fear being excluded from their communities or losing their jobs, they might be more likely to comply, she said.

吕频说，政府可能更愿意制造生育压力，而不是发布自己的命令。她说，如果人们害怕被社区排斥或失去工作，他们可能会更愿意遵守规定。

“Governance through social norms is low-cost, low-risk and avoids accountability for the government,” Ms. Lu said.

“通过社会规范进行治理是低成本、低风险的，而且避免了对政府的问责，”吕频说。

There have been suggestions, however, that the government might exert more direct pressure on its own employees.

然而，也有人建议政府应该对自己的员工施加更直接的压力。

Last year, a draft document from the health commission of Quanzhou, a city in southern China, spread online. It called on employees of government agencies to “take the lead in implementing the three-child policy.”

去年，中国南方城市泉州市卫健委的一份文件草案在网上流传开来。它呼吁政府机构的员工“带头贯彻落实三孩政策”。

The document did not specify what was meant by implementing. But commenters drew parallels with a famous open letter from the central authorities that is seen as having launched the one-child policy in 1980. That letter exhorted party members to “take the lead” in having one child.

文件没有具体说明“落实”的含义。但评论者将其与1980年中央政府发布的一封著名公开信进行了比较，该公开信被视为启动了独生子女政策。信中劝告党员“带头”，只生一个孩子。

A woman who answered the phone at Quanzhou’s health commission confirmed the draft’s existence. But she said the city was waiting on higher-level instructions before issuing final guidelines.

一位在泉州市卫健委接听电话的女性证实了该草案的存在。但她表示，在发布最终指导方针之前，该市正在等待上级的指示。