China ending foreign adoptions of Chinese children

China has ended foreign adoptions of Chinese children, a move that could potentially impact hundreds of U.S. families.
The confirmation of China’s change in policy was announced Thursday by the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
“China will not send children abroad for adoption,” Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning said in a Sept. 5 press conference. “This is also in line with the spirit of relevant international covenants. We express our appreciation to those foreign governments and families, who wish to adopt Chinese children, for their good intention and the love and kindness they have shown.”
ABC News has reached out to the Department of State for comment but has not yet heard back.
The U.S. embassy in Beijing is requesting clarification in writing from China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs on the change, the State Department said Thursday, according to the Associated Press.
The move comes four years after China suspended foreign adoptions during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and then resumed a small number of cases in 2022 and 2023. Only 16 adoptions from China were finalized in 2023, according to a State Department report, down considerably from 2008-2016, when the State Department was reporting approximately 2,000 to 3,000 adoptions from China each year.
China, along with the U.S, is a member participant of the Hague Adoption Convention, which protects intercountry adoptions but China had only allowed adoptions from China to the U.S.
Ryan Hanlon, the president of the National Council For Adoption, an adoption advocacy nonprofit, said the ending of Chinese adoptions will impact “hundreds of families.”
“The news that China will be ending intercountry adoption is very disappointing, primarily for the children who will continue to live in orphanages instead of families, but also for the families who have been matched with a child for adoption and have waited years, only to learn this sad news,” Hanlon said in a statement to “Good Morning America.” “Hundreds of families had been approved by China’s government for adoption and have faithfully waited more than four years, beginning with COVID-19 shutdowns until now.”
“We hope the governments of China and the United States can find a way to cooperate in this regard and prioritize the best interests of children,” Hanlon added.
China’s population has been on the decline, falling for a second year in a row to about 1.4 billion, as the Associated Press reported in January. The Chinese government has been working to address concerns and in 2015, the ruling Chinese Community Party ended its controversial one-child family planning policy after 36 years.