甘肃夫妇不生二孩奖千元? 官方称是误读!

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.

上周三，中国西北部甘肃省的一名健康官员证实，该省颇具争议的计划生育条例草案承诺给那些不生二胎、符合条件的夫妇现金奖励。

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.

不过，甘肃计生委一名名叫刘彩虹的工作人员告诉《环球时报》称，此举并不是为了阻止夫妻生孩子，而是先前的遗留政策。

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).

根据这份草案的规定，在今年1月1日前，农村只有一个孩子并且自愿放弃养育更多孩子的夫妻，将被奖励不少于1000元的人民币（折合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.

刘彩虹表示，此举之所以引发了争议，是因为一些人没有注意到条款中的时间限制。刘彩虹补充说道：“这一现金政策是在中国1月1日实施二胎政策之前发布的，这一条款适用于那些在此之前没有申请奖励、符合条件的夫妇。”

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

这名官员强调，今年1月1日以后，决定不要第二个孩子的夫妻就不能申请现金奖励。

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

但是反对这一条例的网民和人口学家称，这一草案会鼓励人们少要孩子。

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世纪80年代，中国出台计划生育政策，限制大部分农村夫妇只要一个孩子。今年1月1日，国家开始允许所有夫妻生二胎，以应对老龄化的挑战。前哈佛大学助理教授、人口学专家黄文政表示，在中国宽松度提高的计划生育政策面前，应不再实行奖励政策。

"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.

黄文政说道：“在国家新政策下，政府应该奖励那些生二胎的人。”此外，他还补充道，政府应该采取更多的措施，在考虑到老龄化的情况下，鼓励人们生更多的孩子。

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.

甘肃并不是唯一一个奖励独生子夫妇现金的省份。据媒体报道，包括湖南和陕西省在内的省份，2014年都提出了相同的政策。根据新闻门户第一财经网报道，2014年，在陕西西安雁塔地区，共计24万元的人民币奖励被发放给了198对放弃二胎的夫妇。