Despite worrying imbalances in the number of male and female Chinese newborns in rural areas, the overall sex ratio of the country's younger population is "generally normal", a national report concluded.

The report, released by the China Youth and Children Research Center and Beijing's Renmin University of China recently, said the proportion of young males to their female counterparts had fluctuated between 99:100 and 105:100 since 2000.

It indicated that the ratio of 14-29-year-old males to the same female cohort had declined from 105.7:100 in 2000 to 100.2:100 in 2005.