ABSTRACT
One of the most heatedly debated topics raised by Chinese population policies is the distorted sex ratio at birth. In contrast to the normal situation, where this indicator amounts to between 1050 and 1070 new-born boys per 1000 new-born girls, indicators for China have risen way beyond this margin. Simply put, some 120,000 infant girls were missing in the third census of 1982. Seven years later, this number climbed to nearly 600,000 in the adjusted census figures for 1989. Without the adjustments it would have reached more than 1 million. As the distorted sex ratio extends beyond infancy, and mortality for young girls between 1 and 5 years of age is abnormally high, too, the dimensions of the problem are still greater, and they continue to grow. During recent years the sex ratio for age group 0 has continued to rise, and the annual number of missing infant girls amounts to almost 1 million. 1
