China to continue cracking down on surrogacy

China will continue cracking down on surrogacy, despite recent speculation that the country may loosen related policies, reports said on Wednesday.

“We will continue cracking down on the illegal practice of surrogacy to ensure people’s safe, legal and efficient access to assisted reproductive technology,” said Mao Qun’an, a spokesperson of the National Health and Family Planning Commission, during a press conference on Wednesday.

The state-run People’s Daily published a story recently which quoted several experts who argued that the country should loosen its restraints on surrogacy. The story was then interpreted by some as a signal that the country would loosen its grip. But Mao responded that surrogacy is still prohibited in China, citing a law in 2001 which banned surrogacy in any form.

According to the People’s Daily article, there are 90 million Chinese households which are eligible to have a second child after the country loosened its one-child policy in 2015. But 60 percent of the females are 35 years old or above, and 50 percent are more than 40 years old, making it quite difficult for them to have a second child.

Experts in that article also cited the high rate of diseases which cause lowered fertility and loss of children in a Chinese household as reasons for surrogacy to be allowed.