China reaffirms opposition to surrogacy
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Around 15 million couples suffer infertility in China, according to the World Health Organization. [Photo: Xinhua]

China's health watchdog has said the country will continue forbidding surrogate pregnancies in response to recent calls for a loosening of a ban on the practice.

Mao Qun'an, a spokesman for China's National Health and Family Planning Commission, made the remarks at a news conference on Wednesday.

Mao said the commission prohibits all forms of surrogacy conducted by medical institutions and their staff. He said further steps will be taken to combat this practice.

China has banned surrogacy for around 16 years when Laws of the Management of Auxiliary Reproductive Technologies of Human Race took effect in 2001.

Transactions involving gamete, zygote and embryos in any forms are prohibited according to the provision.

But since all Chinese couples have been allowed to have a second child in 2016, some couples, who wish to have another child, have missed the optimum pregnancy age or have lost fertility.

Of the nearly 90 million families which are eligible to have a second child, around 60 percent of wives are now over 35 years old, and nearly half of them are more than 40 years old, reports People's Daily.Around 90 percent of women lose the ability to give birth after the age of 45.

To solve this problem, some people suggested allowing surrogacy in China but banning the practice for commercial reasons or in an illegal way.

While surrogacy is banned in many countries, including France, Germany, Spain and Italy, it's allowed in others like Belgium, the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan