The gap between the number of boys and girls born in China was reduced slightly in 2012, the National Population and Family Planning Commission (NPFPC) said on January 22.

The gender ratio stood at 117.7 newborn boys for every 100 baby girls in 2012, a decline of 0.08 from the previous year, according to the census data released by the National Bureau of Statistics.

The country still faces the arduous task in fixing its gender imbalance, the NPFPC said.

A normal gender ratio at birth should stand from 103 to 107 boys for every 100 girls, according to the commission.

Since fetal ultrasounds became common in China in the 1980s, the country's boy-to-girl birth ratio has been hovering at a high level, reaching a record high of 120.56 in 2008.