An official survey showed an unbalanced proportion of the amount of children of a certain sex born in the provinces over the past six consecutive years, which has been partly attributed to the deliberate termination of the child after parents discover the sex of the fetus through ultrasonic examination.

The regulation was drafted by the provincial Family Planning Committee and the provincial Public Health Department, based on related articles of Chinese laws and regulations. It passed the approval of the provincial people's congress and went into effect on November 1.

Under the regulation, medical institutions, family-planning service agencies and private clinics are prohibited to provide medical means for identifying a fetus' sex, unless there is a need for identifying whether the fetus would carry hereditary diseases.

The regulation also rules out abortion operations to women conceiving a fetus for over 16 weeks, unless medical evidence show the clear possibility for the fetus to have serious disfigurement or continuing gestation would endanger the life and the health of the mother.

Violators will be given administrative disposal and fine penalty.

(Xinhua 12/07/2000)