The eastern Chinese province of Shandong has banned the use of ultrasound tests to determine the sex of an unborn child, because too many women were having abortions if the child was female.

The Chinese news agency said fines of up to two-thousand yuan 240 dollars will be imposed on people using the tests for this purpose.

The agency made no mention of China's strict one-child-per-family policy.

Abortions in China are believed to have led to a marked imbalance in favour of male births.