甘肅夫婦不生二孩獎千元? 官方稱是誤讀!

A health official in Northwest China's Gansu Province confirmed last Wednesday that the province's controversial draft family planning regulation promises cash rewards to eligible couples who decide not to have a second child.

上週三，中國西北部甘肅省的一名健康官員證實，該省頗具爭議的計劃生育條例草案承諾給那些不生二胎、符合條件的夫婦現金獎勵。

However, it does not aim to discourage couples from having babies, but rather is left over from the previous policy, Liu Caihong, an official with the Health and Family Planning Commission of Gansu, told the Global Times.

不過，甘肅計生委一名名叫劉彩虹的工作人員告訴《環球時報》稱，此舉並不是爲了阻止夫妻生孩子，而是先前的遺留政策。

According to the draft regulation, rural couples who had only one child and voluntarily gave up having more children before January 1 could be granted a cash reward of no less than 1,000 yuan ($154).

根據這份草案的規定，在今年1月1日前，農村只有一個孩子並且自願放棄養育更多孩子的夫妻，將被獎勵不少於1000元的人民幣（摺合154美元）。

Liu said that the controversy arose because some people failed to note the time restriction in the clause. "The cash reward policy was made before China shifted to a two-child policy on January 1, and this clause in the regulation applies to those previously eligible couples who have not applied for the reward," Liu added.

劉彩虹表示，此舉之所以引發了爭議，是因爲一些人沒有注意到條款中的時間限制。劉彩虹補充說道：“這一現金政策是在中國1月1日實施二胎政策之前發佈的，這一條款適用於那些在此之前沒有申請獎勵、符合條件的夫婦。”

The official noted that couples who decided not to have a second child after January 1 cannot apply for the cash reward.

這名官員強調，今年1月1日以後，決定不要第二個孩子的夫妻就不能申請現金獎勵。

But netizens and demographers who opposed the clause said that it aimed to encourage people to have fewer children.

但是反對這一條例的網民和人口學家稱，這一草案會鼓勵人們少要孩子。

China's family planning policy, which was introduced in the 1970s, limited most urban couples to having one child. The country began allowing all couples to have a second child on January 1 of this year to tackle the challenges of an aging g Wenzheng, a former Harvard University assistant professor and expert on demographics, said that the reward policy is no longer conducive to China's promotion of a relaxed family planning policy.

20世紀80年代，中國出臺計劃生育政策，限制大部分農村夫婦只要一個孩子。今年1月1日，國家開始允許所有夫妻生二胎，以應對老齡化的挑戰。前哈佛大學助理教授、人口學專家黃文政表示，在中國寬鬆度提高的計劃生育政策面前，應不再實行獎勵政策。

"Under the country's new policy, the government should reward those who decide to have two children," Huang said, adding that the government should develop more measures that will encourage people to have more children in light of China's aging population.

黃文政說道：“在國家新政策下，政府應該獎勵那些生二胎的人。”此外，他還補充道，政府應該採取更多的措施，在考慮到老齡化的情況下，鼓勵人們生更多的孩子。

Gansu is not alone in rewarding couples who decide not to have a second child with cash. Media have reported that provinces including Hunan and Shaanxi came up with the same policy in 2014. In the Yanta district of Xi'an, Shaanxi, a total of 240,000 yuan in cash rewards was allocated in August 2014 to 198 couples who gave up having a second child, news portal reported.

甘肅並不是唯一一個獎勵獨生子夫婦現金的省份。據媒體報道，包括湖南和陝西省在內的省份，2014年都提出了相同的政策。根據新聞門戶第一財經網報道，2014年，在陝西西安雁塔地區，共計24萬元的人民幣獎勵被髮放給了198對放棄二胎的夫婦。