Starting Thursday, couples in Shenyang, the capital of northeastern China's Liaoning Province, can receive premarital medical checkups free of charge.

The municipal government will pay the expenses in a bid to reduce the rising number of birth defects.

However, that doesn't mean premarital checkups have again become compulsory, the Northeast Network quoted officials as saying.

Compulsory premarital checkups were abolished nationwide in 2003 by the revised Marriage Registration Regulations. Since then, the rate of couples undergoing the checkups has dropped sharply.

Statistics show one million babies are born with defects annually in China. In Shenyang alone, 1.25 out of every 100 newborns fell into this category last year, rising from 1.13 the year before. An estimated 16.8 million yuan (US$2.17 million) are spent every year on surgeries and medical care for these babies.

Having realized the critical situation, the Shenyang government began paying for premarital checkups in 2004 in six pilot districts and counties, achieving encouraging results.

Local officials are also planning free consultations for marrying couples to promote premarital checkups.

Earlier, a number of other Chinese cities have already introduced free premarital checkups.

Guangzhou, the capital city of southern China's Guangdong province, is scheduled to offer free checkups later this month.

免费婚前体检

从本周四起,中国东北辽宁省省会沈阳提供未婚夫妻免费婚前体检。市政府将支付这笔开支，争取减少日益上升的新生缺陷儿的数目.但是，东北网引用官员的话称，这并不表明婚前检查已经成为义务检查。在2003年，修改的婚姻登记管理条例中废除了全国婚前体检制度。自此，夫妻进行体检的比率大幅度下滑。统计表明，中国每年有一百万婴儿具有天生缺陷。仅在沈阳，去年一年就有1.25%的新生婴儿属于此范畴，比前年上升了0.12个百分点。预计每年花费在这些婴儿身上的外科和医疗保健费用达到1680万元(217万美元)。 沈阳政府已经意识到处境的严峻性，于2004年在六个试点区（县）开始支付婚前体检费用，并且取得令人满意的效果。当地官员计划对即将结婚的夫妇进行义诊，用以促进婚前体检。早些时候,许多中国其它城市已经推行免费婚前体检。中国南方地区广东省省会广州市，计划在本月末提供免费体检。