North China province closes 201 clinics guilty of gender selection

North China's Hebei Province has closed 201 medical clinics that were found to have been involved in gender selection since 2004, an official has said.

The province has discovered and dealt with 848 gender selection cases involving 745 hospitals and clinics, said Zhao Xin, director of the Hebei Provincial Commission for Population and Family Planning.

It closed 201 clinics and fined 374 others. It also revoked licenses of 104 medical staffs and brought charges against three people, Zhao said.

In some areas of Hebei there are 134 boys for every 100 girls. The national ratio was 116.9 to 100 in a census in 2000 and 108.5 to 100 in 1982.

The traditional Chinese preference for boys over girls is widely blamed for the gender gap.

Hebei Governor Ji Yunshi said the province is aiming to find a balance between baby girls and boys by 2010.

As one of the measures, the province subsidizes every person over the age of 60 who has only one or two daughters with 600 yuan (75 U.S. dollars) each year. It also has raised funds to help more than 8,200 girls back to school.

Identifying the gender of foetuses and abortion of girls for the purpose of gender selection are banned in China.

Source: Xinhua