China erases "coarse" family planning signs

BEIJING (Reuters) - China has managed to erase most "coarse" slogans on walls in rural areas urging people to have fewer children and replaced them with "civilized" and "warm" ones, Xinhua news agency said on Friday.

The offending signs promoting China's strict one-child policy include lines like "Houses toppled, cows confiscated if abortion demand rejected" and "One more baby means one more tomb". Another reads: "Raise fewer babies but more piggies".

The slogans are painted on walls and houses across Chinese villages, but now officials have managed to take down or erase more than 76 percent, Xinhua said.

Stringent rules on family planning allow most couples to have just one child, at least in cities. The restrictions have bolstered a traditional bias for boys, seen as the mainstay for elderly parents, and have resulted in abortions, killings or abandonment of baby girls.

The new slogans include "healthy childbearing", "reproductive health", "rearing better children", "care for girls", "male health" and "aging population".

"The wording focuses on expressions like 'love', 'health', 'life' and 'happiness' in more amiable slogans such as 'The mother earth is too tired to sustain more children' and 'Both boys and girls are in parents' hearts'," Xinhua said.

China, the world's most populous country, credits its one-child policy with reducing the population, now standing at around 1.3 billion, by millions.