China cleans up one-child slogans

The one-child policy is to be explained in "more amiable" terms

China has decided to tone down some of the slogans used to promote its one-child policy, in a bid to make them sound less threatening.

Some posters used in rural areas will be banned, such as one which read "One more baby means one more tomb."

A list of 190 acceptable slogans is being issued instead.

Chinese authorities believe the strong language of some slogans is harming the image of the one-child policy, in place since 1979 to limit population growth.

The official Xinhua news agency explained the decision of the National Population and Family Planning Commission as "an effort to win more understanding to the country's population control policy."

Largest population

It gave examples of "low quality" slogans posted on rural banners or the internet: "Raise fewer babies but more piggies", "Houses toppled, cows confiscated, if abortion demand rejected" and "One more baby means one more tomb."

Among the new slogans recommended are "The mother earth is too tired to sustain more children" and "Both boys and girls are parents' hearts."

China's 28-year-old family planning policy limits most urban couples to just one child and allows some families in the countryside to have a second child if their first is a girl.

Critics say it has led to forced abortions, sterilizations and a dangerously imbalanced sex ratio due to a traditional preference for male heirs, which has prompted some families to abort female foetuses in the hope of getting boys.

China has the largest population in the world - 1.3bn in 2005 - and says its policies have helped limit its growth rate.