A study from the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), a government-backed institution, has found that "China's 'one couple, one child' family planning policy" has resulted in a gender imbalance that is the "most serious demographic problem facing" the country, the Times of London reports.
"The report makes no bones about how the one-child policy - introduced to curb population growth and still in place in most circumstances - has led to a preference for boys. ... The normal birth ratio of 103-107 boys for every 100 girls began to shift in the 1980s. It rose from 108 boys in 1982 to 111 in 1990 and 116 a decade later," the Times writes (Macartney, 1/12).
CNN reports, that the one-child "policy has curbed population growth, and has led to forced sterilization in some parts of the country, the U.S. State Department said. Because of a traditional preference for male heirs, many Chinese also have aborted female fetuses, according to human rights groups" (1/11). Though abortion is legal and "widely available" in China, the country does prohibit tests "to determine the gender of a foetus for non-medical reasons, but these are still carried out," the Times reports, which adds that "[f]emale infanticide is not uncommon, although rarely mentioned" (1/12).