Gender imbalance plagues Shandong

Parents resort to illegal 'sex selection' methods especially in rural areas

Shandong authorities said the province suffers from a serious gender imbalance, which observers say could lead to an even more relaxed family planning policy.

In his government work report on Tuesday, Governor Guo Shuqing said Shandong has a male-to-female ratio of 120:100 in some areas, the China Youth Daily reported.

Medical experts called the imbalance "grave."

Ding Xinfu, a Shandong political advisor, said Guo's speech reflects the provincial government's proactive approach to the problem.

Shandong Health and Family Planning Commission records from late 2014 show the province's gender ratio at birth in 2013 was estimated at 116.6 boys to 100 girls, slightly higher than the national average.

The National Bureau of Statistics announced on January 20 that the national gender ratio at birth was 115.88 boys to every 100 girls in 2014. 103 to 107 boys to every 100 girls is the global average.

"I have treated some women who suffered from infertility after getting an abortion. Because of the one-child policy, some parents [in Shandong] have done their own gender selection," said Lian Fang, a gynecologist in Shandong.

The "gender selection" Lian referred to includes buying ultrasound machines through unauthorized sources in rural areas or sending the pregnant women's blood samples to Hong Kong or overseas to determine the baby's gender, as males are preferred in Shandong.

Lian stressed that although these are isolated cases, they harm both the pregnant women and their community's population.

The National Health and Family Planning Commission described China's gender imbalance among newborns as "the most serious and prolonged" in the world on January 21, pledging to step up supervision on fetal sex determination, which is banned in China.

China, the world's most populous country, is likewise experiencing a low birth rate. A recent Chinese Academy of Social Sciences report said the birth rate in China is 1.4 children per woman, close to the critical global rate of 1.3, or the "low fertility trap."

The Chinese government relaxed the family planning policy in March last year, allowing couples to have a second child if either spouse is an only child.

Huang Wenzheng, a demographer and former research fellow at Harvard University, told the Global Times that China's family planning policy has contributed to the low birth rate and worsening gender imbalance, particularly in rural areas.

"The root cause of gender imbalance is the restrictive family planning policy, which forced Chinese parents who prefer boys to abort baby girls," said Huang.

"Many people are asking the government to lift the family planning policy. The current spotlight on Shandong could make it a pilot region," Huang noted.