Many young Chinese are choosing to give birth outside of mainland China with the aim of providing better education opportunities for their children.

Sometimes only going as far as Hong Kong is enough, because people who are born there enjoy a greater liberty of travel and can choose from a wider selection of higher education institutions than their mainland-born counterparts.

Although it is not encouraged for Chinese mainlanders to give birth in Hong Kong, the law does allow it, CRI says.

In 2009, over 29,700 babies were born in HK to mainland families.

Many parents have also chosen to give birth in the US or Canada, and there are companies that help people do it.

Many of those who give birth outside of mainland China are not eligible to emigrate for various reasons, according to CRI. The majority of them are people born in the 80′s and highly educated.

Since 2007, the Hong Kong government has charged a service fee of 39, 000 yuan (5,799 USD) from patients residing outside the Special Administrative Region who stay in a public hospital there.

In 2009, HK hospitals generated 150 million HKD (130 billion yuan, 19 billion USD) from such “unqualified” patients, CRI says.

Source: CRI English (September 17, 2010)