Gender gap among newborns widens
Print Edition
SHANGHAI women gave birth to more than 112 boys to every 100 girls in 2014, as the newborn gender gap widened on the previous year.
To tackle this imbalance, city health officials said yesterday that they will crack down on fetus gender tests, which are illegal in China, and improve registration of pregnancies to reduce sex-selective abortions.
Traditionally, Chinese families favor having sons.
While districts were assigned different targets last year, the city had aimed for an overall newborn ratio of 109.7 boys to 100 girls.
But the actual figure was 112.2 boys to 100 girls, the Shanghai Health and Family Planning Commission said.
This compared to a ratio of 109.6 boys to 100 girls in 2013.
For 2014, targets of below 107 newborn boys to every 100 girls were set for most downtown districts. In most suburban areas, the target was slightly above 110 boys per 100 girls.
Across the city, only Jing’an, Changning, Zhabei and Hongkou districts and Chongming County met their targets.
Jing’an reported the closest gender ratio, with 102.8 boys for every 100 girls born in the downtown district.
Fengxian District, with 117.5 boys for every 100 girls, and Songjiang District, which reported 117.5 to 100, had the greatest imbalances among newborns.
The figures were based on births by registered Shanghai women and women from elsewhere who had lived in the city for more than 6 months.
In response to the figures, the commission has ordered improvements to pregnancy reporting and registration.
Stricter registration would make it more difficult to proceed with sex-selective abortions, officials said.
There will also be a crackdown on fetus gender blood tests, with those involved in the illegal service facing jail terms, said officials.
Districts that performed worst in trying to meet targets will be ordered to improve, the commission said.
The number of births in Shanghai last year has yet to be announced. In 2013, 196,200 babies were born in the city.
Globally, the sex ratio at birth is around 107 boys to 100 girls. This may be skewed by factors such as age of the mother, as well as sex-selective abortion.
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