China softens language used in family planning slogans

China's National Population and Family Planning Commission has decided to tone down the language used in slogans promoting the nation's one-child policy. Previously, the reminders calling for people to have fewer children have been ill-worded and even offensive.

Some of the most crudely worded slogans include ones like "Raise fewer babies but more piggies," "Houses toppled, cows confiscated, if abortion demand rejected" and "One more baby means one more tomb," Xinhua cites.

The top family planning authority issued a circular this week demanding that local officials substitute slogans that contain stiff and insensitive language with ones from the commission's collection of 190 recommended slogans.

According to the circular, the strong language currently used in family planning slogans gives the impression that the government is simply forcing people to limit the number of children they have, which causes misunderstandings about the policy, and even tarnishes the image of the government, Xinhua writes.

The commission grants it that the slogans have played an essential role in promoting the state's family planning policy and in creating a favorable environment for population growth control.

Now, authorities worry that if such offensive slogans are not corrected, the country's family planning efforts in the new era will be hindered.

New slogans suggested by the commission include "The mother earth is too tired to sustain more children" and "Both boys and girls are parents' hearts."

The circular also said that local officials should use understandable, persuasive and popular expressions in the slogans and avoid insensitive wording.

China's family planning policy was implemented in 1979 to help reduce the strain the rising birth rate was having on resources. Under the policy, families are allowed to have only one child, except in the case of ethnic minority couples. The restriction has also been loosened in recent years in the country's rural areas, where a family can have a second child if the first one is a girl.

To date, the one-child policy has helped prevent at least 300 million births in China and aided the country's rapid economic development, AP writes.