HONG KONG - The Food and Health Bureau in Hong Kong reiterated Friday that all public hospitals will not accept any bookings by pregnant non-local women for delivery in Hong Kong starting January 1.

According to the zero quota policy promulgated earlier, for pregnant women from the Chinese mainland with their husbands being Hong Kong permanent residents, or Hong Kong residents who came on One-way Permits and have made bookings at local private hospitals for delivery in 2013, their identity and their marital relations with their husbands will be subject to stringent verification.

The Immigration Department, the Office of the Licensing Authority, and other law enforcement agencies will boost interception and enforcement actions against pregnant mainland women whose husbands are not Hong Kong permanent residents.

The measures include strengthening immigration examination of all pregnant women from the Chinese mainland, combating the illicit agencies helping them come to Hong Kong to give birth, and enhancing inspection and enforcement against unlicensed guesthouses.