BEIJING - Census figures have shown that China's gender ratio at birth is increasing, Vice-Health Minister Liu Qian said at a press conference on Tuesday.

China's sex ratio at birth was 118.08 males for every 100 females in 2010, 116.9 males to 100 females in 2000, 111.3 in 1990 and 108.5 in 1982, according to census data, Liu said.

"The gender ratio imbalance can be attributed to multiple causes, including a traditional preference for sons, the practice of arranging for sons to take care of elderly parents, illegal sex-selective abortions and other factors," Liu said.

A slew of measures have been taken to address the problem, including improving the country's social security net and harshly cracking down on sex-selective abortions, Liu said.

Doctors found to be practicing non-medical-related sex determination or sex-selective abortion will be stripped of licenses, and any medical institutions found to be involved will also be given harsh punishments, said Liu.

China has implemented family planning policies for about three decades that have restricted urban couples to having just one child, while ethnic minority families are permitted to have more children.

Although the country's population was controlled, illegal sex-selective abortions continued to thrive in many parts of the country until the government launched nationwide crackdowns on the industry.

The Tuesday press conference was held to unveil the Outline for the Development of Chinese Children/Women (2011-2020), which was issued by the government on Monday.

The outline, issued every 10 years by the State Council, aims to boost children's physical and mental health and narrow the development gap between urban and rural women and children.