Premarital physical exams should be renewed: Experts

Number of abandoned babies, many with birth defects, is a wake-up call to society

GUANGZHOU - Mandatory premarital physical examinations for engaged couples should be resumed in China, and the social security net should be strengthened to stop the increase in abandoned children, many of whom have physical defects, experts said.

Although the exact count of abandoned children in Guangzhou is unavailable, the number of children at the Guangzhou Children's Social Welfare Home, one of the largest of its kind in China, continues to increase, its president, Xu Jiu, told China Daily.