China reins in rich and famous on one-child policy

BEIJING, Mar 1 (Reuters) China plans to punish celebrities and wealthy Chinese who breach the world's most populous country's ''one-child'' policy by paying to have more children, a newspaper said today.

The rich and famous would face ''double punishment'' -- fines and a ban from accepting any ''future awards'' if they broke the law, the Beijing News said. It did not elaborate.

''We found out that most celebrities and rich people have two children, and 10 per cent of them have three,'' it quoted Yu Xuejun, a senior official at the National Population and Family Planning Commission, as saying.

''The phenomenon must be stopped.'' China launched the controversial one-child policy in the early 1980s to curb its population, now over 1.3 billion.

The restrictions, which vary from city to countryside, have bolstered a traditional preference for boys and have come under fire from Western countries and human rights activists after widespread reports of forced abortions and female infanticide.

REUTERS PB SP1146