China will continue to crack down on surrogacy, said Mao Qun’an, the director-general of Department of Communications of National Health and Family Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Surrogacy, according to Mao, is a complicated social issue that concerns law, morality and social stability. Mao also added that relevant departments including the National Health and Family Planning Commission will continue to crack down on surrogacy, an illegal activity, to ensure that people can enjoy safe, legal and effective auxiliary reproductive methods. 

 China has banned surrogacy since 2001, when the Laws of the Management of Auxiliary Reproductive Technologies of the Human Race were enacted, where transactions of gametes, zygotes and embryos in any form are prohibited. Surrogacy is also banned in countries like France, Germany and Sweden, however, it is legal in the UK, Denmark, some US states and Russia.