Birth by surrogacy to remain prohibited

Surrogacy will continue to be banned in China, and violations will be punished, China's top health authority announced on Wednesday.

The announcement follows recent discussions on whether to allow surrogacy in China to facilitate the second-child policy.

"Surrogacy is a complex matter involving legal, ethical and social issues, and Chinese health regulations ban medical institutions and staff from performing surrogacy in any form," National Health and Family Planning Commission spokesman Mao Qun'an said at a news conference in Beijing.