Family planning authorities target rich and influential

Family planning authorities in Zhangzhou, Fujian Province, have announced that residents who report violations by wealthy citizens of the family planning policy can be given rewards of up to 10,000 yuan ($1,634).

In addition, staff from the city's population and family planning commission will be rewarded if they collect fines of more than 500,000 yuan for violations by a single family.

Fines are based on income, meaning wealthier people pay larger fines.

The regulation states that because these people are more influential, the move will have more impact on society and reduce the number of violations of the policy.

The move is part of a newly-released local family planning regulation which was released on July 29.

"The wealthy people here are those who earn an annual income of more than 200,000 yuan," the Xiamen-based Strait Herald Thursday quoted a staff member from the commission as saying, noting that the annual income of these people is at least twice as high as the average annual income of residents in the area.

Web users have expressed suspicions that local officials intend to increase their revenue by targeting rich people.

"It's obvious that the local authorities want to collect more fiscal revenue through other channels in addition to the funds provided by the government," Liang Zhongtang, a renowned demographics and family planning expert, told the Global Times on Sunday.

While the commission is focusing on investigating targets such as representatives from the local people's congresses or entrepreneurs, no fines have been collected so far, said the Strait Herald report.