China’s chief administrative body, the State Council, has set out a 10 year plan for children and women, laying out more than 100 goals in seven areas for women and five for children, including health, education, and social welfare. The goals are issued every 10 years, and the current ones run from 2011 to 2020.

The goals in the “outline for the development of Chinese women” are wide ranging, from the general, such as ensuring access to good basic healthcare, to the specific, such as targets on maternal mortality and hospital births.

Maternal mortality in China stood at 38 deaths per 100 000 live births in 2009, show World …