Chinese authorities have vowed to take tough measures to control fetus gender testing and sex-selective abortions to hold back the rising sex ratio imbalance.

"People who conduct illegal gender testing of fetuses and sex-selective abortions should face serious punishment," said a document of decisions of the CPC Central Committee and State Council on comprehensively strengthening population and family planning work and addressing population issues comprehensively, issued to the public on Monday.

The document pledged to improve protection of baby girls, saying that people who kill, abandon or injure infant girls or ill-treat their mothers, should be severely punished.

It said medical institutions that use ultra-sound technology and abortion medicines will be more closely supervised.

China's gender ratio for new born babies in 2005 was 118 boys for every 100 girls, compared with 110:100 in 2000. In some regions, the figure has reached 130 boys born for every 100 girls.

The document said the gender-ratio imbalance, which has been developing for some time, amounts to "a hidden danger" for society that will "affect social stability".

In an attempt to halt the growing imbalance, China launched a "care for girls" campaign nationwide in 2000 to promote equality between men and women. The government has also offered cash incentives to girl-only families in the countryside.

In the document, the authorities pledged to "firmly" continue the 33-year-long family planning policy, as the country is still facing huge challenges from growing population.

Formulated in the early 1970s, China's family planning policy

encourages late marriages and late childbearing, and limits most urban couples to one child and most rural couples to two.

While the policy is credited with preventing 400 million new births,authorities warn the country is still facing an "unprecedented" complex situation.

The document said that the birth rate, which has has been kept low for many years, faces a possible rebound; overall level of population quality is not high; the number of work-age population is huge and the employment situation is more severe; an increasingly aging society puts unprecedented pressure on social security and sustained serious gender imbalance constitutes a hazard to social stability.

It said that the growing number of migrant population challenges the allocation of public resources and as the structure of poor population becomes more diversified, there emerges a very arduous task to promote balanced social development.

The document said the key and difficult part of the population and family planning work lies in the country's rural region, where social security network is underdeveloped and people's traditional preference for male heirs has not changed.

The authorities promised continuing to improve family planning services in rural areas and will offer more assistance to girl-only families.

The authorities said those who violated the family planning policy, especially Party members and government officials, should be fined and punished according to law.

"Maintaining a low birth rate is the priority of family planning during the next phase," the document said, adding that the next four years is a "crucial" period.

The government has pledged to keep the mainland population under 1.36 billion by 2010 and under 1.45 billion by 2020.

"Over the coming decades, China's overall population will increase by eight to ten million a year," bring unprecedented challenges to the country's social and economic development, the document said.

"China's overall population, along with its working population and its aging population, will peak in the first half of the 21 century," noted the document.

China currently has 1.3 billion people.

It said China will further increase its public investment in population and family planning, according to the document. By 2010, China's is expected to spend 30 yuan (3.84 U.S. dollars) per person up from 10 yuan (1.28 U.S. dollars) person in 2005, said the document.

China is also encouraging enterprises, non-governmental organizations and individuals to provide financial assistance for the country's family planning programs, said the document.

The document urged conducting study on the causes of birth defects and trying to alter the key factors that cause them. The document blamed unhealthy lifestyles, environmental factors and hereditary for causing genetic defects in newborns.

The document urged Chinese couples to complete physical examination before they marry and called for measures to encourage women to give birth in hospitals and to breast feed.

It said ensuring family planning among the growing migrant population is extremely important to maintaining a stable and low birth rate.

The document commits China to improving family-planning services for migrant workers and strengthening the registration system for migrant workers to better track their family planning choices. The document also said family planning associations will be set up in communities and enterprises with large numbers of migrant workers.

The document said the number of Chinese senior citizens aged at and above 60 has reached 144 million, or 11.03 percent of China's total population. The fast ageing Chinese society challenges China's social welfare and social security system.

The document urged the whole Chinese society to respect and care for the aged people, and provide them with convenient facilities and services. People who abuse their parents or refused to support the aged people will be punished in accordance with law.

Source: Xinhua