(Photo: CGTN)

Chinese online travel agency Ctrip has started to offer its female employees in executive positions with maternity benefits, including the freezing of their eggs, the first Chinese firm to offer employees such benefits. 

Ctrip said it will offer from 100,000 yuan ($15,000) to 2 million yuan for egg preservation, as well as a seven-day paid leave for female managers at the middle and senior levels, according to a document sent to the Global Times by Ctrip. 

Female employees have to consult with their families before they make a decision about whether they are willing to participate in the project, a Ctrip spokesperson told the Global Times on Sunday, declining to say how many people are involved. 

About 60 percent of Ctrip's employees are women, of which 50 percent are in middle management and 34 percent are at the senior level. 

James Liang, Ctrip's executive chairman of the board, said, "The maternity benefit is to solve female employees' concerns about raising children, helping them better immerse themselves into career development."

"The shrinking population must urgently be solved. If we don't encourage births, it will eventually threaten the country's economic development and innovation," Liang said. 

Ctrip has introduced other measures to ensure the maternity rights of female staff, including offering an extra 3,000 yuan maternity allowance.