China mulls child abuse prevention rules for adoptive families  

侵害虐待寄养儿童可追刑责

民政部就《家庭寄养管理办法》（征求意见稿）已开始公开征求意见。其规定，寄养家庭成员侵害寄养儿童的合法权益，造成人身财产损害的，依法承担民事责任；构成犯罪的，依法追究刑责。[查看全文]

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.