HONG KONG – The Chinese authorities have suspended a hospital and a judicial institute in the city of Wuhan in China’s central Hubei province from conducting some services after they were accused of surrogacy and issuing fake paternity results.

The suspension comes amid several investigations related to the issuance of fake birth certificates as China, where surrogacy is illegal, tries to boost its birth rate.

Wuhan Puren Hospital has been suspended from releasing birth certificates and Wuhan Ruiboxiang Judicial Appraisal Institute has been suspended from providing judicial appraisal services, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said on Nov 28.

A task force has been set up to investigate the hospital and institute.

“We will seriously pursue accountability in accordance with laws and regulations based on the investigation,” the commission said.

The official China Daily newspaper reported that the hospital and institute were accused of “illegal activities” by an online influencer called Shangguanzhengyi.

He alleged the institute could provide fake paternity test results and parents could provide fake results so that the birth certificate could be reissued, allowing non-biological children to be given a bogus identification.

The newspaper said that the service cost around 180,000 yuan (S$34,000) in cash.

The case comes a few weeks after the director of a hospital in Hubei was probed for selling birth certificates, with the hospital’s obstetrics and gynaecology department forced to suspend operations.

Birth certificates are required in China for obtaining household registration and are necessary for vaccinations, medical insurance enrolment and application for a social security card.

Birth rates have fallen in China to their lowest since records began in 1949, at just 9.56 million in 2022. REUTERS