Chinese authorities have vowed to take tough measures to control
fetus-gender testing and sex-selective abortions to check the
rising sex-ratio imbalance.
"People who illegally test the gender of fetuses and perform
sex-selective abortions face serious punishment," said a statement
jointly issued by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of
China and the State Council.
The authorities also pledged to improve the protection of baby
girls, warning that people who kill, abandon or injure infant girls
or ill-treat their mothers, will be severely punished.
Abortion medicines and medical institutions that use ultra-sound
technology to check fetus health will be more closely supervised,
it said.
China's gender ratio for newborn babies in 2005 was 118 boys for
every 100 girls, compared with 110:100 in 2000. In some southern
regions like Guangdong and Hainan, the figure has reached 130 boys
for every 100 girls.
By 2020, there will be some 30 million more men of marriage age
than women, said a recent report.
The statement said the gender-ratio imbalance amounts to "a
hidden danger" for society that will "affect social stability".
In an attempt to halt the growing imbalance, a "Care for Girls"
campaign was launched nationwide in 2000 to promote equality
between men and women. Cash incentives are also offered to
girl-only families in the countryside.
The authorities said such programs will continue to fight
discrimination against girls and ensure their healthy growth.
The authorities also pledged to "firmly" continue the
33-year-old family planning policy, as the country still faces huge
challenges from a growing population.
Formulated in the early 1970s, the family planning policy
encourages late marriages and late childbearing, and limits most
urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two.
The policy is credited with preventing 400 million births but
faces a challenge in rural regions, where the traditional
preference for male heirs has not changed.
The authorities promised to continue to improve family planning
services in rural areas and help girl-only families.
The authorities also said those who violate the family planning
policy, especially Party members and government officials, face
penalties.
"Maintaining a low birth rate is the priority of family planning
during the next phase," it said, adding that the next four years is
a "crucial" period.
The population figure is expected to hit 1.36 billion by 2010
and 1.45 billion by 2020 before peaking at 1.5 billion in 2033. The
current population is 1.3 billion.
"Over the coming decades, China's overall population will
increase by 8 to 10 million a year," bringing unprecedented
challenges to the country's social and economic development, the
statement said.
China will further increase public spending in population and
family planning, according to the statement.
By 2010, outlay per person is expected to be 30 yuan ($3.84), up
from 10 yuan ($1.28) person in 2005.
(Xinhua News Agency January 23, 2007)