AN investigation from the Beijing News on Saturday revealed that doctors from some official medical organizations have been selling fake birth certificates. The police are claiming to carry out actions against those involved.

    A netizen of Weibo, China’s twitter-like microblogging platform, has written a letter of accusation, saying that 630 babies have suspiciously fake birth certificates. He pointed out that a nationwide black market exists where medical organizations can buy fake birth certificates and then sell them onto parents who have illegally adopted children.

    The Beijing Times investigation showed that black markets for these birth certificates exist in many provinces, including Hunan, Guizhou, Yunan, and Henan. On Friday the public security department of Fujian Province said they found the source of the illegal certificates, and were carrying measures to discontinue the practice.

    Before March this year many families in China were only permitted to have one child. For families that have more than the permitted amount of children, they can either pay a fine, or the child may be born illegally.

    Trafficking children and illegal adoptions are also where illegal birth certificates are found, for example, 60-year-old Chen Chunfu from Meizhou Island, Fujian Province married at the age of 40. He and his wife were unable have children so they “adopted” a child. They had to buy a fake birth certificate so the child could have a hukou, a legal Chinese identity to access welfare, such as education and health care. (CRI)