新闻来源：www.cnn.com
原文地址：China is ending foreign adoptions of its children. That leaves hundreds of American families in limbo
新闻日期：2024-09-06
中国宣布停止出国领养儿童，数百名美国家庭面临不确定性。
自1992年中国正式开放国际收养以来，已有超过16万名中国儿童被世界各地的家庭收养。其中约五分之一（29%）是被美国父母收养的。从1999年到2023年期间，美国父母共收养了82,674名中国儿童。
自2020年新冠疫情期间以来，中国曾一度暂停国际收养以确保孩子的健康和安全。2021年和2022年无任何中国儿童被送往美国领养。去年（2023年），仅有16名中国儿童被收养。
自20世纪末起，中国政府实行一孩政策，导致许多家庭弃置孩子，特别是女孩和残疾婴儿。随后在2015年宣布放宽政策，使夫妻能够生二孩。然而，国民出生率仍不断下降。
中国外交部周四表示，不再将中国儿童送往海外领养。唯一的例外是亲属关系中的外国人可以收养在中国的子女或血缘关系的继子女。发言人毛宁在常规新闻发布会上表示，这样做符合国际公约精神。我们感谢相关国家政府和收养家庭对中国儿童的关心和热爱。
美国驻北京大使馆正在寻求中国民政部对新指令的书面解释。外交部周四表示，将不再处理未来的收养案件，除非涉及亲属关系中的外国人可以收养在中国的子女或血缘关系的继子女。
自1992年中国开放国际收养以来，这些孩子已经成为世界各地家庭的一部分。
原文摘要：
China is ending most foreign adoptions of its children, leaving hundreds of American and other foreign families with pending applications in limbo. Since the early 1990s, China has sent tens of thousands of adoptees overseas – with about half arriving in the United States – as its draconian one-child policy forced many families to abandon children, especially girls and babies with disabilities. But in recent decades, as China’s economy boomed and births slowed, international adoptions of Chinese children have declined in number. Since the Covid-19 pandemic began, they have largely been on hold. Now the Chinese government is officially ending the program – which it said is in line with global trends, but also comes as officials try to reverse the country’s sharply declining birthrates and avert a looming demographic crisis. China’s Foreign Ministry announced Thursday that no more Chinese children would be sent abroad for adoption. The only exceptions will be for foreigners adopting the children or stepchildren of blood relatives in China. “This is in line with the spirit of relevant international conventions,” the ministry’s spokesperson Mao Ning told a regular news conference. “We are grateful for the desire and love of the governments and adoptive families of relevant countries to adopt Chinese children.” The ban raises uncertainty for hundreds of American families currently in the process of adopting children from China. The US embassy in Beijing is seeking clarification in writing from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on the new directive, the State Department said Thursday, according to the Associated Press. In a phone call with US diplomats in China, Beijing said it “will not continue to process cases at any stage” other than those covered by an exception clause, AP reported. “We understand there are hundreds of families still pending completion of their adoption, and we sympathize with their situation,” the State Department said. More than 160,000 Chinese children have been adopted into families all over the world since China officially opened its doors to international adoption in 1992, according to China’s Children International, an international organization created by and for Chinese adoptees. About half of these children have been adopted to the US. Between 1999 and 2023, American parents adopted 82,674 children from China, accounting for 29% of all US overseas adoptions, according to data from the US State Department. China suspended international adoptions in 2020 during the pandemic to “ensure the health and safety” of the children, according to a notice from the US State Department on intercountry adoptions from China at the time. No Chinese children were sent to the US for adoption in 2021 or 2022. Last year, 16 children were adopted from China, according to the US State Department. Beijing scrapped its decades-long and highly controversial “one child” policy after realizing the restriction had contributed to a rapidly aging population and shrinking workforce that could severely distress the country’s economic and social stability. To arrest the falling birth rate, the Chinese government announced in 2015 that it would allow married couples to have two children. But after a brief uptick in 2016, the national birth rate has continued to fall. Policymakers further relaxed limits on births in 2021, allowing three children, and ramped up efforts to encourage larger families, including strengthening maternity leave and offering tax deductions and other perks to families. But those efforts have yet to see results amid changing gender norms, the high cost of living and education, and looming economic uncertainty.
