90m Chinese grow up as 'only' children
China's one-child policy since the end of 1970s has created a generation of "only" children that now numbers 90 million, Zhao Baige, vice minister for China's National Population and Family Planning Commission said Friday.
The one-child policy has helped prevent 400 million births - about the size of the US and Mexican populations combined - and aided China's rapid economic development.
Despite that, Zhao said surveys have shown that 60 percent of Chinese would prefer to have two children, but that the government has no plan to relax birth limits.
Critics say the policy has led to forced abortions and a dangerously imbalanced * ratio due to a traditional preference for male heirs, which has prompted countless families to abort female fetuses in hopes of getting boys.
Zhao blamed the imbalanced * ratio on a traditional preference for boys and the availability of gender testing of fetuses with sonograms. She said the government was addressing the problem with education, subsidies and strict regulation of sonograms.
In 2005, the government began giving US$150 annual pensions to older couples with a daughter as a reward for complying with the policy and as an incentive to others to have just one girl baby.
Government statistics show that 117 boys are born for every 100 girls in China, well above the average for industrialized countries of between 104 and 107 boys for every 100 girls.
Experts have said the gender imbalance resulting from *-selective abortions and other practices could have dangerous social consequences due to anticipated shortages of marriageable young women.
(AP)
国家人口和计划生育委员会副主任赵白鸽上周五介绍，自上世纪70年代末实行计划生育政策以来，我国的独生子女数量已达到9000万。
计划生育政策使我国的人口出生数减少了4亿，这个数字相当于美国和墨西哥的人口总数。同时，这一政策对我国经济的快速发展也起到了一定作用。
尽管如此，赵主任说，调查显示60%的中国人还是想要两个孩子，但目前政府还没有放开生育政策的计划。
批评人士认为，计划生育政策使很多具有“重男轻女”传统思想的家庭进行了选择性人工堕胎，由此造成了我国男女比例的严重失调。
赵主任说，传统的“重男轻女”思想和B超胎儿性别鉴定技术是造成这一问题的主要根源。她说目前政府正在通过教育、补贴和禁止（注：非医学用）胎儿性别鉴定等办法来解决这一问题。
为了鼓励人们只生一个孩子，2005年政府对响应政策、只生一个女儿的老年夫妇进行了2000元人民币的养老金奖励。
据政府的有关统计数据显示，目前我国男女出生的性别比例为117:100，大大高于工业化国家104:100至107:100的平均水平。
据专家分析，由选择性堕胎等行为造成的男女比例失调将会导致达到适婚年龄的年轻女性紧缺，而这会对社会产生严重危害。
（英语点津姗姗编辑）
Vocabulary:
gender testing of fetuses : 胎儿性别鉴定
*-selective abortion : 选择性堕胎
marriageable : suitable for marriage（达到适婚年龄的） |
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