Call to upgrade 'toothless' Chinese laws to end epidemic of illegal gender tests

Beijing, Nov 25(ANI): China must adopt more powerful laws to drive out underground gender-testing in the country to rebalance the gender ratio of newborns, a Chinese family planning official has said.

Gender-testing is banned in China except for medical purposes under the country's Population and Family Planning Law on Maternal and Infant Health.

"Almost three decades after the government began preaching the idea that girls are equal to boys, some parents still prefer sons, so they turn to illegal gender tests to detect and kill female fetuses," Xinhua quoted Lin Likang, deputy head of the Human Resources and Family Planning Department of Jiaojiang District of Taizhou city, Zhejiang Province, as saying.

"The bigger the gap between male and female newborns, the worse the selective abortions of female fetuses," said Lin.

On average, China's male-to-female ratio among newborns ranges from 103:100 to 107:100, but the figure in Taizhou has hovered around 112:100 since 2006. (ANI)