深圳新计划生育政策明年生效

The regulation is regarded as the first local law to make clear the issue of violating the state one-child policy by giving birth outside of China's mainland. It stipulates that couples who violate the family planning policy by giving birth outside of mainland China and registering residency for their children in Shenzhen will be punished if both or one of the parents are registered Shenzhen residents.

Wang Yanping director of law, policy and regulation of family planning and sanitation of Shenzhen Municipality says the legislation shows the Shenzhen government's resolution to curb the trend of having babies abroad.

"If the child is born abroad is raised on the mainland for more than 18 months within two years of arriving, the child's parents will have to pay a "social compensation fee" for having the additional child born overseas."

The fee will be up to about 220,000 yuan or 35,000 US dollars for each unapproved child.

Because Shenzhen borders Hong Kong, many Shenzhen residents go there and to Macao to give birth to a second child. According to China's laws and regulations, mainland Chinese couples have to obey the family planning policy whether or not they give birth in or outside China's mainland.

Delivering a baby in Hong Kong has become increasingly popular among mainlanders. Figures from Hong Kong's Hospital Authority show that the number of mainland women giving birth in Hong Kong has risen from 620 in 2001 to 44 thousand in 2011.

As a result, Hong Kong announced that starting in 2013, local public hospitals will stop receiving pregnant mainland women whose husbands are also non-residents.

Some Shenzhen citizens hail the new policy saying that it may restrict people who violate the one child policy.

"If there is no fine, the wealthy people will have even less restriction on having additional unapproved babies. At least 220 thousand yuan is not a small amount of money. They will think about it."

However, Yi Songguo, a sociology professor of Shenzhen University says, the fine is not that much considering Shenzhen's economic development status.

"The fine may effectively restrict ordinary people who want to have more children. But for wealthy people in Shenzhen, it's not too much."

The regulation, which was passed in October this year by the Standing Committee of Shenzhen People's Congress, also forbids parents from having triplets or more births with assisted reproductive technology.

For CRI, I am Li Dong.