"The normal sex ratio at birth should be in the range between 100:103 and
100:107, but the ratio has reached 100:119.86 in China," said Gu Xiulian,
chairwoman of the All-China Women's Federation, at a press conference in
Beijing.
Gu attributed the imbalance to three factors: a deep-rooted Chinese concept
that males are superior to females; the lack of a social security system in
rural areas; and the availability of technology to identify the sex of a fetus,
Xinhua reported.
Gu said the imbalance was not unique to China, but occurred elsewhere where
family planning was not practiced. "Therefore, I should say the phenomenon has
nothing to do with our family planning policy," she concluded.
Gu said the Chinese government had taken steps to address the imbalance by
promoting gender equality and directing more social resources to girls.
China's family planning policy allows only one child per family. Gu did not
address the likelihood that the policy led families to abort girl babies, whom
they might have kept had they been allowed to have more than one child.
