The Chinese police have arrested 75 people belonging to a network involved in illegal baby gender determination practices.

Accoridngly, the illegal service is aimed at expectant parents in China, who wish to determine the gender of their unborn baby. Reports have claimed that the people in rural China continue to prefer a male child over a female.

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Authorities in the province of Zhejiang said the network is likely to involve over 300 people. The group took fetal blood samples to Hong Kong for gender testing. It is believed that the network is operational across China and conducted $30 million worth of illegal business.

China is currently struggling with acute gender imbalance. Its gender ratio stands at 113 boys for every 100 girls.

In 2005, the country had 136 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women born after 1980, while there were 206 unmarried men for 100 unmarried women born after 1970.

Recently, Chinese population officials said the imbalance will probably persist. China's long-standing one child policy is said to be one of the biggest factors behind this imbalance. However, the country scrapped this policy last year. Amid this, people have been clamoring for gender determination of their second babies.

Gender determination of unborn child is illegal in many countries, including the most populated countries China and India. According to the World Health Organization, such practices are still prevalent in the said countries. Gender determination for non-medical cases is outlawed in these countries. The United Nations Population Fund has also criticized the practice stating that it "reflects the persistent low status of women and girls."

Tagschina, Zhejiang, World Health Organization