More boys than girls worries north China province
13/7/2006 17:17
Boys outnumbering girls could become a major obstacle for the development
of North China's Hebei Province if effective measures to curb the trend are not
taken soon, a senior official has said.
There are 1.4 million more boys than
girls in the age group between three and 15, among which 450,000 boys were born
as a result of gender selection, a practice that has been strictly banned in
China, said Hebei Provincial Vice Governor Sun Shibin at a provincial conference
on gender issues.
While research shows the total population of the province
is over 68 million, officials there could not provide the population of the
three-to-15 age group.
Although the province has reduced the ratio of boy
births to girl births from 118 to 100 in 2000 to 114 to 100 in 2005, more needs
to be done to achieve a better gender balance, the official said.
In some
areas of Hebei, there are 134 boys for every 100 girls. The national ratio was
116.9 to 100 in 2000 and 108.5 to 100 in 1982, census statistics show.
Since
2004, Hebei has closed 201 medical clinics that were found to have been involved
in gender selection.
The province has dealt with 848 gender selection cases
involving 745 hospitals and clinics. While it closed hundreds of clinics, it
also fined 374 others and revoked licenses of 104 medical staff and brought
charges against three people.
The traditional Chinese preference for boys is
widely blamed for the gender gap. As infants assume the name of their fathers,
Chinese families want to have boys in order to carry on their linage. Boys are
also assumed to be better care givers to aging parents.
Hebei Governor Ji
Yunshi said the province is aiming to find a balance between the birth of girls
and boys by 2010.
One of the measures the province is taking to adjust the
imbalance is to provide everyone over the age of 60 who has daughters and no
sons with a subsidy of 600 yuan (US$75) each year. It also has raised funds to
help more than 8,200 female dropouts return to school.
Identifying the gender
of fetuses and aborting girls for the purpose of gender selection is banned in
China.
xinhua
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