China mulls child abuse prevention rules for adoptive families

China is considering rules to prevent child abuse in adoptive families and to better regulate adoption practices, according to a notice posted on a government website, chinalaw.gov.cn, on Monday. The rules, formulated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs, have been publicized to solicit public opinion. According to the rules, if any member in an adoptive family discriminates or abuses an adopted child, or swindles money under the pretext of raising adopted children, children's welfare institutes should disqualify the family and terminate the adoption. Families engaged in severe abuse are subject to criminal penalties. Moreover, the rules would make clear that children's welfare institutes need to regularly visit adopted children, supervise and evaluate the families' parenting skills, and forward their suggestions and feedback to civil affairs authorities and adoptive families. The public can access the website at www.chinalaw.gov.cn to voice their opinions about the rules before June 5.