One - child policy - wikipedia One - child policy One - child policy A Chinese mother and son at a market in Jiayuguan, China Chinese 独生子 女 政策 Transcriptions Standard Mandarin Hanyu Pinyin Dúshēng zǐnǚ zhèngcè The one - child policy, a part of the family planning policy, was a population planning policy of China. It was introduced in 1979 and began to be formally phased out near the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016. The policy was only enforced on Han Chinese and allowed exceptions for many groups, including ethnic minorities. In 2007, 36 % of China 's population was subject to a strict one - child restriction, with an additional 53 % being allowed to have a second child if the first child was a girl. Provincial governments imposed fines for violations, and the local and national governments created commissions to raise awareness and carry out registration and inspection work. According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented. Scholars have widely disputed this claim with Martin King Whyte and Wang et al finding that the policy had little effect on population growth or the size of the total population. China has been compared to countries with similar socioeconomic development like Thailand and Iran, along with the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, which achieved similar declines of fertility without a one - child policy. Although 76 % of Chinese people supported the policy in a 2008 survey, it was controversial outside of China. On October 29, 2015, it was reported that the existing law would be changed to a two - child policy, citing a statement from the Communist Party of China. The new law became effective on January 1, 2016, following its passage in the standing committee of the National People 's Congress on December 27, 2015. China 's population since 1950 Population in China Year Million Change Change / year 1964 694.6 -- -- -- - -- -- -- - 1982 1008.2 313.6 + 17.42 2000 1265.8 257.6 + 14.31 1568.9 259.4 + 25.94 Source : Census of China Contents 1 Introduction 2 History 2.1 Implementation 2.2 Relaxation 3 Abolition 4 Administration 5 Effects 5.1 Fertility rates 5.2 Continuation of demographic transition 5.3 Disparity in sex ratio at birth 5.4 Education 5.5 Adoption 5.6 Twins 5.7 Quality of life for women 5.8 Healthcare improvements 5.9 `` Four - two - one '' problem 5.10 Unregistered children 5.11 Potential social problems 5.12 Birth tourism 5.13 Sex - selective abortion 6 Criticism 6.1 Statement of the effect of the policy on birth reduction 6.2 Unequal enforcement 6.3 Human rights violations 6.4 Effect on infanticide rates 7 In popular culture 8 See also 9 References 10 Further reading 11 External links Introduction Birth rate in China During the period of Mao Zedong 's leadership in China, the birth rate fell from 37 per thousand to 20 per thousand. Infant mortality declined from 227 per thousand births in 1949 to 53 per thousand in 1981, and life expectancy dramatically increased from around 35 years in 1948 to 66 years in 1976. Until the 1960s, the government encouraged families to have as many children as possible because of Mao 's belief that population growth empowered the country, preventing the emergence of family planning programs earlier in China 's development. The population grew from around 540 million in 1949 to 940 million in 1976. Beginning in 1970, citizens were encouraged to marry at later ages and have only two children. Although the fertility rate began to decline, the Chinese government observed the global debate over a possible overpopulation catastrophe suggested by organizations such as Club of Rome and Sierra Club. While visiting Europe in 1979, one of the top Chinese officials, Song Jian, read two influential books of the movement, The Limits to Growth and A Blueprint for Survival. With a group of mathematicians, Song determined the correct population of China to be 700 million. A plan was prepared to reduce China 's population to the desired level by 2080, with the one - child policy as one of the main instruments of social engineering. In spite of some criticism inside the party, the plan ( also referred to as the Family Planning Policy ) was officially adopted in 1979. The plan called for families to have one child each in order to curb a then - surging population and limit the demands for water and other resources, as well as to alleviate social, economic, and environmental problems in China. The policy was formally implemented as a temporary measure on September 18, 1980. History The one - child policy was originally designed to be a One - Generation Policy. It was enforced at the provincial level and enforcement varied ; some provinces had more relaxed restrictions. The one - child limit was most strictly enforced in densely populated urban areas. Beginning in 1980, the official policy granted local officials the flexibility to make exceptions and allow second children in the case of `` practical difficulties '' ( such as cases in which the father is a disabled serviceman ) or when both parents are single children, and some provinces had other exemptions worked into their policies as well. In most areas, families were allowed to apply to have a second child if their first - born is a daughter. Furthermore, families with children with disabilities have different policies and families whose first child suffers from physical disability, mental illness, or intellectual disability were allowed to have more children. However, second children were sometimes subject to birth spacing ( usually 3 or 4 years ). Children born in overseas countries were not counted under the policy if they do not obtain Chinese citizenship. Chinese citizens returning from abroad were allowed to have a second child. Sichuan province allowed exemptions for couples of certain backgrounds. By one estimate there were at least 22 ways in which parents could qualify for exceptions to the law towards the end of the one - child policy 's existence. As of 2007, only 35.9 % of the population were subjected to a strict one - child limit. 52.9 % were permitted to have a second child if their first was a daughter ; 9.6 % of Chinese couples were permitted two children regardless of their gender ; and 1.6 % -- mainly Tibetans -- had no limit at all. The Danshan, Sichuan Province Nongchang Village people Public Affairs Bulletin Board in September 2005 noted that RMB 25,000 in social compensation fees were owed in 2005. Thus far 11,500 RMB had been collected, so another 13,500 RMB had to be collected. Following the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, a new exception to the regulations was announced in Sichuan province for parents who had lost children in the earthquake. Similar exceptions had previously been made for parents of severely disabled or deceased children. People have also tried to evade the policy by giving birth to a second child in Hong Kong, but at least for Guangdong residents, the one - child policy was also enforced if the birth was given in Hong Kong or abroad. In accordance with China 's affirmative action policies towards ethnic minorities, all non-Han ethnic groups are subjected to different laws and were usually allowed to have two children in urban areas, and three or four in rural areas. Han Chinese living in rural towns were also permitted to have two children. Because of couples such as these, as well as who simply pay a fine ( or `` social maintenance fee '' ) to have more children, the overall fertility rate of mainland China was close to 1.4 children per woman as of 2011. Implementation The Family Planning Policy was enforced through a financial penalty in the form of the `` social child - raising fee '', sometimes called a `` family planning fine '' in the West, which was collected as a fraction of either the annual disposable income of city dwellers or of the annual cash income of peasants, in the year of the child 's birth. For instance, in Guangdong, the fee is between 3 and 6 annual incomes for incomes below the per capita income of the district, plus 1 to 2 times the annual income exceeding the average. Both members of the couple need to pay the fine. As part of the policy, women were required to have a contraceptive intrauterine device ( IUD ) surgically installed after having a first child, and to be sterilized by tubal ligation after having a second child. From 1980 to 2014, 324 million Chinese women were fitted with IUDs in this way and 108 million were sterilized. Women who refused these procedures -- which many resented -- could lose their government employment and their children could lose access to education or health services. The IUDs installed in this way were modified such that they could not be removed manually, but only through surgery. In 2016, following the abolition of the one - child policy, the Chinese government announced that IUD removals would now be paid for by the government. Relaxation In 2013, Deputy Director Wang Peian of the National Health and Family Planning Commission said that `` China 's population will not grow substantially in the short term ''. A survey by the commission found that only about half of eligible couples wish to have two children, mostly because of the cost of living impact of a second child. In November 2013, following the Third Plenum of the 18th Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party, China announced the decision to relax the one - child policy. Under the new policy, families could have two children if one parent, rather than both parents, was an only child. This mainly applied to urban couples, since there were very few rural only children due to long - standing exceptions to the policy for rural couples. The coastal province of Zhejiang, one of China 's most affluent, became the first area to implement this `` relaxed policy '' in January 2014. The relaxed policy has been implemented in 29 out of the 31 provinces, with the exceptions of Xinjiang and Tibet. Under this policy, approximately 11 million couples in China are allowed to have a second child ; however, only `` nearly one million '' couples applied to have a second child in 2014, less than half the expected number of 2 million per year. By May 2014, 241,000 out of 271,000 applications had been approved. Officials of China 's National Health and Family Planning Commission claimed that this outcome was expected, and that `` second - child policy '' would continue progressing with a good start. In 2016, 433 births and 211 deaths were recorded in Wulipu, Hubei. The birth rate was 8.9 ‰ and death rate was 4.3 ‰ resulting in a natural population increase of 4.6 ‰. In the results of a separate survey published by the Shayang County government, Wulipu 's population had increased from 48,044 to 48,132 during a survey period. 424 children were born during the survey period resulting in a birth rate of 8.82 ‰. During the same period, 63 people died, resulting in death rate of 1.31 ‰. Of the births in the survey, 406 ( 95.75 % ) were in compliance with the family planning policy of China. 312 ( 73.58 % ) of the births were the firstborn in the family. ( All of these births were in compliance with the family planning policy of China. ) Among the firstborn children, 157 were female. 107 ( 25.24 % ) of the births were the second - born child in the family. 90 of these births were in compliance with the family planning policy of China. Among the second - born children, 47 were female. Five ( 1.18 % ) of the births surveyed were neither the firstborn nor second - born child in the family. Four of these births were in compliance with the family planning policy of China. Among the children born who were neither firstborn nor second - born, two were female. Abolition See also : Two - child policy § China In October 2015, the Chinese news agency Xinhua announced plans of the government to abolish the one - child policy, now allowing all families to have two children, citing from a communiqué issued by the Communist Party `` to improve the balanced development of population '' -- an apparent reference to the country 's female - to - male sex ratio -- and to deal with an aging population according to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The new law took effect on 1 January 2016 after it was passed in the standing committee of the National People 's Congress on 27 December 2015. The rationale for the abolition was summarized by former Wall Street Journal reporter Mei Fong : `` The reason China is doing this right now is because they have too many men, too many old people, and too few young people. They have this huge crushing demographic crisis as a result of the one - child policy. And if people do n't start having more children, they 're going to have a vastly diminished workforce to support a huge aging population. '' China 's ratio is about five working adults to one retiree ; the huge retiree community must be supported, and that will dampen future growth, according to Fong. Since the citizens of China are living longer and having fewer children, the growth of the population imbalance is expected to continue, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation which referred to a United Nations projections forecast that `` China will lose 67 million working - age people by 2030, while simultaneously doubling the number of elderly. That could put immense pressure on the economy and government resources. '' The longer term outlook is also pessimistic, based on an estimate by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, revealed by Cai Fang, deputy director. `` By 2050, one - third of the country will be aged 60 years or older, and there will be fewer workers supporting each retired person. '' Although many critics of China 's reproductive restrictions approve of the policy 's abolition, Amnesty International said that the move to the two - child policy would not end forced sterilizations, forced abortions, or government control over birth permits. Others also stated that the abolition is not a sign of the relaxation of authoritarian control in China. A reporter for CNN said, `` It was not a sign that the party will suddenly start respecting personal freedoms more than it has in the past. No, this is a case of the party adjusting policy to conditions... The new policy, raising the limit to two children per couple, preserves the state 's role. '' The abolition may not achieve a significant benefit, as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation analysis indicated : `` Repealing the one - child policy may not spur a huge baby boom, however, in part because fertility rates are believed to be declining even without the policy 's enforcement. Previous easings of the one - child policy have spurred fewer births than expected, and many people among China 's younger generations see smaller family sizes as ideal. '' The CNN reporter adds that China 's new prosperity is also a factor in the declining birth rate, saying, `` Couples naturally decide to have fewer children as they move from the fields into the cities, become more educated, and when women establish careers outside the home. '' Administration The one - child policy was managed by the National Population and Family Planning Commission under the central government since 1981. The Ministry of Health of the People 's Republic of China and the National Health and Family Planning Commission were made defunct and a new single agency National Health and Family Planning Commission took over national health and family planning policies in 2013. The agency reports to the State Council. The policy was enforced at the provincial level through fines that were imposed based on the income of the family and other factors. `` Population and Family Planning Commissions '' existed at every level of government to raise awareness and carry out registration and inspection work. Effects Fertility rates China had small family by 1978 before start of one - child policy in 1979 According to a 2017 study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, it is complicated to evaluate the effects of the one - child policy on family outcomes because the Chinese government had already enacted aggressive family planning policy before the introduction of the one - child policy ; seen a sharp drop in fertility rates before the enactment of the one - child policy ; the one - child policy coincided with Chinese economic reform which would have contributed to reduced fertility rates ; and other developing East Asian countries also experienced sharp declines in fertility rates. According to the study, `` In general, very different views exist on how the one - child policy affected fertility : one group of studies argued that the one - child policy had a significant or decisive effect on fertility in China, while another group argued that socioeconomic development played a key role in China 's fertility decline. A plausible reconciliation of these views is that the one - child policy accelerated the already - occurring drop in fertility for a few years, but in the longer term, economic development played a more fundamental role in leading to and maintaining China 's low fertility level. To put it more bluntly, China 's fertility might well have dropped to the current low level with rapid economic development, even without the one - child policy, although the timeline of the decline would not appear quite the same. '' Continuation of demographic transition Further information : Demographics of China and Demographic transition The progression of China 's population pyramid, International Futures. The fertility rate in China continued its fall from 2.8 births per woman in 1979 ( already a sharp reduction from more than five births per woman in the early 1970s ) to 1.5 in 2010. This is similar to demographic transition seen in Thailand, Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu which have undergone similar changes in fertility rates without a one - child policy. China 's one - child policy significantly accelerated the advent of an aging society, radically altered the structure of the population, and helped create an aging population. While the policy may have achieved the stated demographic goals of preventing an estimated 200 million or more births ( the official claim is 400 million ), it produced many unintended and far - reaching consequences. These include a deficit of 40 million female babies, mostly as a direct consequence of illegal sex - selective abortions, and a population with an artificially large elderly demographic. Disparity in sex ratio at birth The sex ratio at birth in People 's Republic of China, males per 100 females, 1980 -- 2010. Further information : Missing women of China The sex ratio of a newborn infant ( between male and female births ) in mainland China reached 117 : 100, and stabilized between 2000 and 2013, substantially higher than the natural baseline, which ranges between 103 : 100 and 107 : 100. It had risen from 108 : 100 in 1981 -- at the boundary of the natural baseline -- to 111 : 100 in 1990. According to a report by the National Population and Family Planning Commission, there will be 30 million more men than women in 2020, potentially leading to social instability, and courtship - motivated emigration. The disparity in the gender ratio at birth increases dramatically after the first birth, for which the ratios remained steadily within the natural baseline over the 20 year interval between 1980 and 1999. Thus, a large majority of couples appear to accept the outcome of the first pregnancy, whether it is a boy or a girl. If the first child is a girl, and they are able to have a second child, then a couple may take extraordinary steps to assure that the second child is a boy. If a couple already has two or more boys, the sex ratio of higher parity births swings decidedly in a feminine direction. This demographic evidence indicates that while families highly value having male offspring, a secondary norm of having a girl or having some balance in the sexes of children often comes into play. Zeng 1993 reported a study based on the 1990 census in which they found sex ratios of just 65 or 70 boys per 100 girls for births in families that already had two or more boys. A study by Anderson & Silver ( 1995 ) found a similar pattern among both Han and non-Han nationalities in Xinjiang Province : a strong preference for girls in high parity births in families that had already borne two or more boys. This tendency to favour girls in high parity births to couples who had already borne sons was later also noted by Coale and Banister, who suggested as well that once a couple had achieved its goal for the number of males, it was also much more likely to engage in `` stopping behavior '', i.e., to stop having more children. The long - term disparity has led to a significant gender imbalance or skewing of the sex ratio. As reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, China has between 32 million and 36 million more males than would be expected naturally, and this has led to social problems. `` Because of a traditional preference for baby boys over girls, the one - child policy is often cited as the cause of China 's skewed sex ratio... Even the government acknowledges the problem and has expressed concern about the tens of millions of young men who wo n't be able to find brides and may turn to kidnapping women, sex trafficking, other forms of crime or social unrest. '' The situation will not improve in the near future. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, there will be 24 million more men than women of marriageable age by 2020. Education According to a 2017 study in the Journal of Economic Perspectives, `` existing studies indicate either a modest or minimal effect of the fertility change induced by the one - child policy on children education ''. Adoption A roadside sign in rural Sichuan : `` It is forbidden to discriminate against, mistreat or abandon baby girls. '' The one - child policy of China made it more expensive for parents with children to adopt, which may have had an effect upon the numbers of children living in state - sponsored orphanages. However, in the 1980s and early 1990s, poor care and high mortality rates in some state institutions generated intense international pressure for reform. In the 1980s, adoptions accounted for half of the so - called `` missing girls ''. Through the 1980s, as the one - child policy came into force, parents who desired a son but had a daughter often failed to report or delayed reporting female births to the authorities. Some parents may have offered up their daughters for formal or informal adoption. A majority of children who went through formal adoption in China in the later 1980s were girls, and the proportion who were girls increased over time. In an interview with National Public Radio on October 30, 2015, Adam Pertman, president and CEO of the National Center on Adoption and Permanency, indicated that many young girls were adopted by citizens of other countries, particularly the United States, a trend which has been declining for some years. `` The infant girls of yesteryear have not been available, if you will, for five, seven years. China has been... trying to keep the girls within the country... And the consequence is that, today, rather than those young girls who used to be available -- primarily girls -- today, it 's older children, children with special needs, children in sibling groups. It 's very, very different. '' Twins Since there are no penalties for multiple births, it is believed that an increasing number of couples are turning to fertility medicines to induce the conception of twins. According to a 2006 China Daily report, the number of twins born per year was estimated to have doubled. Quality of life for women The one - child policy has played a major role in improving the quality of life for women in China. For thousands of years, girls have held a lower status in Chinese households. However, the one - child policy 's limit on the number of children has prompted parents of women to start investing money in their well - being. As a result of being an only child, women have increased opportunity to receive an education, and support to get better jobs. One of the side effects of the one - child policy is to have liberated women from heavy duties in terms of taking care of many children and the family in the past ; instead women had a lot of spare time for themselves to pursue their career or hobbies. The other major `` side effect '' of the one child policy is that the traditional concepts of gender roles between men and women have weakened. Being one and the only `` chance '' the parents have, women are expected to compete with peer men for better educational resources or career opportunities. Especially in cities where one - child policy was much more regulated and enforced, expectations on women to succeed in life are no less than on men. Healthcare improvements It is reported that the focus of China on population planning helps provide a better health service for women and a reduction in the risks of death and injury associated with pregnancy. At family planning offices, women receive free contraception and pre-natal classes that contributed to the policy 's success in two respects. First, the average Chinese household expends fewer resources, both in terms of time and money, on children, which gives many Chinese people more money with which to invest. Second, since Chinese adults can no longer rely on children to care for them in their old age, there is an impetus to save money for the future. `` Four - two - one '' problem A government sign in Tangshan Township : `` For a prosperous, powerful nation and a happy family, please practice family planning. '' As the first generation of law - enforced only - children came of age for becoming parents themselves, one adult child was left with having to provide support for his or her two parents and four grandparents. Called the `` 4 - 2 - 1 Problem '', this leaves the older generations with increased chances of dependency on retirement funds or charity in order to receive support. If personal savings, pensions, or state welfare fail, most senior citizens would be left entirely dependent upon their very small family or neighbours for assistance. If, for any reason, the single child is unable to care for their older adult relatives, the oldest generations would face a lack of resources and necessities. In response to such an issue, all provinces have decided that couples are allowed to have two children if both parents were only children themselves : By 2007, all provinces in the nation except Henan had adopted this new policy ; Henan followed in 2011. Unregistered children Further information : Heihaizi Heihaizi ( Chinese : 黑 孩子 ; pinyin : hēiháizi ) or `` black child '' is a term denoting children born outside the one - child policy, or generally children who are not registered in the Chinese national household registration system. Being excluded from the family register means they do not possess a Hukou, which is `` an identifying document, similar in some ways to the American social security card. '' Since they do not legally exist and as a result can not access most public services, such as education and health care, and do not receive protection under the law. Potential social problems See also : Shidu ( bereavement ), a social phenomenon denoting the loss of an only child Some parents may over-indulge their only child. The media referred to the indulged children in one - child families as `` little emperors ''. Since the 1990s, some people have worried that this will result in a higher tendency toward poor social communication and cooperation skills amongst the new generation, as they have no siblings at home. No social studies have investigated the ratio of these over-indulged children and to what extent they are indulged. With the first generation of children born under the policy ( which initially became a requirement for most couples with first children born starting in 1979 and extending into the 1980s ) reaching adulthood, such worries were reduced. However, the `` little emperor syndrome '' and additional expressions, describing the generation of Chinese singletons are very abundant in the Chinese media, Chinese academia and popular discussions. Being over-indulged, lacking self - discipline and having no adaptive capabilities are traits that are highly associated with Chinese singletons. Some 30 delegates called on the government in the Chinese People 's Political Consultative Conference in March 2007 to abolish the one - child rule, citing `` social problems and personality disorders in young people ''. One statement read, `` It is not healthy for children to play only with their parents and be spoiled by them : it is not right to limit the number to two children per family, either. '' The proposal was prepared by Ye Tingfang, a professor at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, who suggested that the government at least restore the previous rule that allowed couples to have up to two children. According to a scholar, `` The one - child limit is too extreme. It violates nature 's law. And in the long run, this will lead to mother nature 's revenge. '' Birth tourism Reports surfaced of Chinese women giving birth to their second child overseas, a practice known as birth tourism. Many went to Hong Kong, which is exempt from the one - child policy. Likewise, a Hong Kong passport differs from China mainland passport by providing additional advantages. Recently though, the Hong Kong government has drastically reduced the quota of births set for non-local women in public hospitals. As a result, fees for delivering babies there have surged. As further admission cuts or a total ban on non-local births in Hong Kong are being considered, mainland agencies that arrange for expectant mothers to give birth overseas are predicting a surge in those going to North America. As the United States practises birthright citizenship, all children born in the US will automatically have US citizenship. The closest US location from China is Saipan in the Northern Mariana Islands, a US dependency in the western Pacific Ocean that allows Chinese visitors without visa restrictions. As of 2012, the island was experiencing an upswing in Chinese births, since birth tourism there had become cheaper than to Hong Kong. This option is used by relatively affluent Chinese who often have secondary motives as well, wishing their children to be able to leave mainland China when they grow older or bring their parents to the US. Canada, compared to US, is less achievable as their government denies many visa requests. Sex - selective abortion Due to the preference in Rural Chinese society to birth a son, pre-natal sex determination and sex - selective abortions are illegal in China. Often argued as one of the key factors in the imbalanced sex - ratio in China, as excess female infant mortality and underreporting of female births can not solely explain this gender disparity. Researchers have found that the gender of the firstborn child in rural parts of China impact whether or not the mother will seek an ultrasound for the second child. 40 % of women with a firstborn son seek an ultrasound for their second pregnancy, versus 70 % of women with firstborn daughters. This clearly depicts a desire for women to birth a son if one has not yet been birthed. In response to this, the Chinese government made sex - selective abortions illegal in 2005. Criticism The policy is controversial outside China for many reasons, including accusations of human rights abuses in the implementation of the policy, as well as concerns about negative social consequences. Statement of the effect of the policy on birth reduction The Chinese government, quoting Zhai Zhenwu, director of Renmin University 's School of Sociology and Population in Beijing, estimates that 400 million births were prevented by the one - child policy as of 2011, while some demographers challenge that number, putting the figure at perhaps half that level, according to CNN. Zhai clarified that the 400 million estimate referred not just to the one - child policy, but includes births prevented by predecessor policies implemented one decade before, stating that `` there are many different numbers out there but it does n't change the basic fact that the policy prevented a really large number of births ''. This claim is disputed by Wang Feng, director of the Brookings - Tsinghua Center for Public Policy, and Cai Yong from the Carolina Population Center at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill Wang claims that `` Thailand and China have had almost identical fertility trajectories since the mid 1980s '', and `` Thailand does not have a one - child policy. '' China 's Health Ministry has also disclosed that at least 336 million abortions were performed on account of the policy. According to a report by the US Embassy, scholarship published by Chinese scholars and their presentations at the October 1997 Beijing conference of the International Union for the Scientific Study of Population seemed to suggest that market - based incentives or increasing voluntariness is not morally better but that it is in the end more effective. In 1988, Zeng Yi and Professor T. Paul Schultz of Yale University discussed the effect of the transformation to the market on Chinese fertility, arguing that the introduction of the contract responsibility system in agriculture during the early 1980s weakened family planning controls during that period. Zeng contended that the `` big cooking pot '' system of the People 's Communes had insulated people from the costs of having many children. By the late 1980s, economic costs and incentives created by the contract system were already reducing the number of children farmers wanted. A long - term experiment in a county in Shanxi Province, in which the family planning law was suspended, suggested that families would not have many more children even if the law were abolished. A 2003 review of the policy - making process behind the adoption of the one - child policy shows that less intrusive options, including those that emphasized delay and spacing of births, were known but not fully considered by China 's political leaders. Unequal enforcement Corrupted government officials and especially wealthy individuals have often been able to violate the policy in spite of fines. Filmmaker Zhang Yimou had three children and was subsequently fined 7.48 million yuan ( $1.2 million ). For example, between 2000 and 2005, as many as 1,968 officials in central China 's Hunan province were found to be violating the policy, according to the provincial family planning commission ; also exposed by the commission were 21 national and local lawmakers, 24 political advisors, 112 entrepreneurs and 6 senior intellectuals. Some of the offending officials did not face penalties, although the government did respond by raising fines and calling on local officials to `` expose the celebrities and high - income people who violate the family planning policy and have more than one child ''. Also, people who lived in the rural areas of China were allowed to have two children without punishment, although the family is required to wait a couple of years before having another child. Human Rights violations Further information : Human rights in China The one - child policy has been challenged for violating a human right to determine the size of one 's own proper family. According to a 1968 proclamation of the International Conference on Human Rights, `` Parents have a basic human right to determine freely and responsibly the number and the spacing of their children. '' According to the UK newspaper The Daily Telegraph, a quota of 20,000 abortions and sterilizations was set for Huaiji County in Guangdong Province in one year due to reported disregard of the one - child policy. According to the article local officials were being pressured into purchasing portable ultrasound devices to identify abortion candidates in remote villages. The article also reported that women as far along as 8.5 months pregnant were forced to abort, usually by an injection of saline solution. A 1993 book by social scientist, Steven W. Mosher, reported that women in their ninth month of pregnancy, or already in labour, were having their children killed whilst in the birth canal or immediately after birth. According to a 2005 news report by Australian Broadcasting Corporation correspondent, John Taylor, China outlawed the use of physical force to make a woman submit to an abortion or sterilization in 2002 but ineffectively enforces the measure. In 2012, Feng Jianmei, a villager from central China 's Shaanxi province was forced into an abortion by local officials after her family refused to pay the fine for having a second child. Chinese authorities have since apologized and two officials were fired, while five others were sanctioned. In the past, China promoted eugenics as part of its population planning policies, but the government has backed away from such policies, as evidenced by China 's ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which compels the nation to significantly reform its genetic testing laws. Recent research has also emphasized the necessity of understanding a myriad of complex social relations that affect the meaning of informed consent in China. Furthermore, in 2003, China revised its marriage registration regulations and couples no longer have to submit to a pre-marital physical or genetic examination before being granted a marriage license. The United Nations Population Fund 's ( UNFPA ) support for family planning in China, which has been associated with the One - Child policy in the United States, led the United States Congress to pull out of the UNFPA during the Reagan administration, and again under George W. Bush 's presidency, citing human rights abuses and stating that the right to `` found a family '' was protected under the Preamble in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. President Obama resumed U.S. government financial support for the UNFPA shortly after taking office in 2009, intending to `` work collaboratively to reduce poverty, improve the health of women and children, prevent HIV / AIDS and provide family planning assistance to women in 154 countries ''. Effect on infanticide rates Sex - selected abortion, abandonment, and infanticide are illegal in China. Nevertheless, the United States Department of State, the Parliament of the United Kingdom, and the human rights organization Amnesty International have all declared that infanticide still exists. A writer for the Georgetown Journal of International Affairs wrote, `` The ' one - child ' policy has also led to what Amartya Sen first called ' Missing Women ', or the 100 million girls ' missing ' from the populations of China ( and other developing countries ) as a result of female infanticide, abandonment, and neglect ''. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation offered the following summary as to the long term effects of sex - selective abortion and abandonment of female infants : `` Multiple research studies have also found that sex - selective abortion -- where a woman undergoes an ultrasound to determine the sex of her baby, and then aborts it if it 's a girl -- was widespread for years, particularly for second or subsequent children. Millions of female fetuses have been aborted since the 1970s. China outlawed sex selective abortions in 2005, but the law is tough to enforce because of the difficulty of proving why a couple decided to have an abortion. The abandonment, and killing, of baby girls has also been reported, though recent research studies say it has become rare, in part due to strict criminal prohibitions. '' Anthropologist G. William Skinner at the University of California, Davis and Chinese researcher Yuan Jianhua have claimed that infanticide was fairly common in China before the 1990s. In popular culture Ball, David ( 2002 ). China Run. Simon & Schuster. ISBN 0 - 74322743 - 3. A novel about an American woman who travels to China to adopt an orphan of the one - child policy, only to find herself a fugitive when the Chinese government informs her that she has been given `` the wrong baby ''. The prevention of a state - imposed abortion during labor to conform with the one child policy is a key plot point in Tom Clancy 's novel The Bear and the Dragon. The difficulties of implementing the one - child policy are dramatized in Mo Yan 's novel Frog ( 2009 ; English translation by Howard Goldblatt, 2015 ). Avoiding the family - planning enforcers is at the heart of Ma Jian 's novel The Dark Road ( translated by Flora Drew, 2013 ). Novelist Lu Min writes about her own family 's experience with the One Child Policy in her essay `` A Second Pregnancy, 1980 '' ( translated by Helen Wang, 2015 ). Xue, Xinran ( 2015 ). Buy Me the Sky. Rider ( imprint ). ISBN 978 - 1 - 8460 - 4471 - 7. Tells the stories of the children brought up under China 's one - child policy and the effect that has had on their lives, families and ability to deal with life 's challenges. Fong, Mei ( 2016 ). One Child : The Story of China 's Most Radical Experiment. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780544275393. See also China portal Shidu ( bereavement ), denoting the loss of an only child Two - child policy The Dying Rooms General : Abortion in China Demographics of China Human population planning List of countries and dependencies by population Human overpopulation References ^ Jump up to : Feng, Wang ; Yong, Cai ; Gu, Baochang ( 2012 ). `` Population, Policy, and Politics : How Will History Judge China 's One - Child Policy ? '' ( PDF ). Population and Development Review. 38 : 115 -- 29. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1728 - 4457.2013. 00555. x. Jump up ^ Whyte, Martin K. ; Wang, Feng ; Cai, Yong ( 2015 ). `` Challenging Myths about China 's One - Child Policy '' ( PDF ). The China Journal. Jump up ^ Li, Hongbin ; Zhang, Junsen ( 2006 ). `` How effective is the one - child policy in China ? '' ( PDF ). Working Paper Series. ^ Jump up to : Sen, Amartya ( Jun 2012 ). `` Population : Delusion and Reality '' ( PDF ). Richard R Guzmán. Jump up ^ `` The Chinese Celebrate Their Roaring Economy, As They Struggle With Its Costs ''. Retrieved 9 December 2015. ^ Jump up to : Bergaglio, Maristella. `` Population Growth in China : The Basic Characteristics of China 's Demographic Transition '' ( PDF ). Global geografia. IT. Jump up ^ `` World Development Indicators ''. Google Public Data Explorer. World Bank. 2009 - 07 - 01. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ Mann, Jim ( 1992 - 06 - 07 ). `` The Physics of Revenge : When Dr. Lu Gang 's American Dream Died, Six People Died With It ''. The Los Angeles Times Magazine. Retrieved July 14, 2012. Jump up ^ Potts, M. ( 19 August 2006 ). `` China 's one child policy ''. BMJ. 333 ( 7564 ) : 361 -- 62. doi : 10.1136 / bmj. 38938.412593. 80. PMC 1550444. PMID 16916810. Jump up ^ `` Total population, CBR, CDR, NIR and TFR of China ( 1949 -- 2000 ) ''. China Daily. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ Zubrin, Robert ( 2012 ). Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism. The New Atlantis. 2646. ISBN 978 - 1 - 59403476 - 3. Jump up ^ Family Planning in China, Embassy of the People 's Republic of China in Lithuania ; Information Office of the State Council of the People 's Republic of China, August 1995, Section III paragraph 2, retrieved 27 October 2014 Jump up ^ Zhu, WX ( 1 June 2003 ). `` The One Child Family Policy ''. Archives of Disease in Childhood. 88 ( 6 ) : 463 -- 64. doi : 10.1136 / adc. 88.6. 463. PMC 1763112. PMID 12765905. Jump up ^ `` East and Southeast Asia : China ''. CIA World Factbook. Jump up ^ Coale, Ansley J. ( March 1981 ). `` Population Trends, Population Policy, and Population Studies in China '' ( PDF ). Population and Development Review. 7 ( 1 ) : 85. doi : 10.2307 / 1972766. Coale shows detailed birth and death data up to 1979, and gives a cultural background to the famine in 1959 -- 61. ^ Jump up to : Five things to know about China 's one - child policy, CA : CBC. Jump up ^ da Silva, Pascal Rocha ( 2006 ). `` La politique de l'enfant unique en République populaire de Chine '' ( The politics of one child in the People 's Republic of China ) ( PDF ) ( in French ). University of Geneva : 22 -- 28. Jump up ^ `` Experts challenge China 's 1 - child population claim ''. Boston.com. 2011 - 10 - 27. Jump up ^ Fong, Vanessa L. ( 2004 ). Only Hope : Coming of Age Under China 's One - Child Policy. Stanford University Press. p. 179. ISBN 978 - 0 - 80475330 - 2. Jump up ^ `` Status of Population and Family Planning Program in China by Province ''. Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific. Archived from the original on 30 March 2012. Jump up ^ Scheuer, James ( 4 January 1987 ). `` America, the U.N. and China 's Family Planning ( Opinion ) ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 27 October 2008. Jump up ^ `` Most people free to have more child ''. China Daily. 2007 - 07 - 11. Retrieved 2009 - 07 - 31. Jump up ^ Hu, Huiting ( 18 October 2002 ). `` Family Planning Law and China 's Birth Control Situation ''. China Daily. Retrieved 2 March 2009. Jump up ^ `` China 's Only Child ''. NOVA. 14 February 1984. PBS. Retrieved 13 October 2009. Jump up ^ Qiang, Guo ( 2006 - 12 - 28 ). `` Are the rich challenging family planning policy ? ''. China Daily. Jump up ^ 29th session of the standing committee of the 8th People 's Congress of Sichuan Province ( rev ed. ), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific, 17 October 1997, Articles 11 -- 13, archived from the original on 6 July 2008, retrieved 31 October 2008 ^ Jump up to : Wong, Edward ( July 22, 2012 ). `` Reports of Forced Abortions Fuel Push to End Chinese Law ''. The New York Times. Retrieved July 23, 2012. Jump up ^ Callick, Rowan ( 24 January 2007 ). `` China relaxes its one - child policy ''. The Australian. Jump up ^ Jacobs, Andrew Jacobs ( 27 May 2008 ). `` One - Child Policy Lifted for Quake Victims ' Parents ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 28 May 2008. Jump up ^ `` Baby offer for earthquake parents ''. BBC. Retrieved 31 October 2008. Jump up ^ `` China Amends Child Policy for Some Quake Victims ''. Morning Edition. NPR. Jump up ^ Tan, Kenneth ( 2012 - 02 - 09 ). `` Hong Kong to issue blanket ban on mothers from the mainland ? ''. Shanghaiist. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ Yardley, Jim ( 11 May 2008 ). `` China Sticking With One - Child Policy ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2008. Jump up ^ `` New rich challenge family planning policy ''. Xinhua. 2015 - 12 - 14. Archived from the original on 2007 - 10 - 15. Jump up ^ `` The most surprising demographic crisis ''. The Economist. 5 May 2011. Retrieved 25 February 2013. Jump up ^ Summary of Family Planning notice on how FP fines are collected Jump up ^ `` Heavy Fine for Violators of One - Child Policy ''. CN. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ Wee, Sui - lee ( 7 January 2017 ). `` After One - Child Policy, Outrage at China 's Offer to Remove IUDs ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 8 January 2017. Jump up ^ Burkitt, Laurie ( 2013 - 11 - 17 ), `` China to Move Slowly on One - Child Law Reform '', The Wall Street Journal ( online ed. ), retrieved 2013 - 12 - 05. Jump up ^ Levin, Dan ( 25 February 2014 ). `` Many in China Can Now Have a Second Child, but Say No ''. The New York Times. Retrieved 26 February 2014. Jump up ^ China reforms : One - child policy to be relaxed, UK : BBC, 2013 - 11 - 15, retrieved 2013 - 12 - 05. Jump up ^ `` Why is China relaxing its one - child policy ? ''. The Economist. The Economist. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2015. Jump up ^ `` Xinhua Insight : Heated discussion over loosening of one - child policy ''. Xinhua net. Archived from the original on 2015 - 01 - 21. Jump up ^ `` Eastern Chinese province first to ease one - child policy ''. Reuters. 17 January 2014. Jump up ^ `` 1 mln Chinese couples apply to have second child ''. China daily. Jump up ^ China daily, Feb 2014. Jump up ^ Wang, Yamei ( 2014 ). `` 11 million couples qualify for a second child ''. Xinhua News. Archived from the original on September 14, 2014. Retrieved December 10, 2014. Jump up ^ `` 五 里 铺 镇 ''. 沙 洋 县 人民 政府 门户 网站 www.shayang.gov.cn ( in Simplified Chinese ). 沙 洋 县 新闻 中心. Retrieved 31 March 2018. 五 里 铺 镇 (... ) 2016 年 出生 人口 433 人, 死亡 211 人, 人口 出生率 8.9 ‰, 死亡 率 4.3 ‰, 自然 增长 率 4.6 ‰. CS1 maint : Unrecognized language ( link ) Jump up ^ `` 沙 洋 县 全 员 人口 相关 数据 统计 表 ''. 沙 洋 县 人民 政府 门户 网站 www.shayang.gov.cn ( in Simplified Chinese ). 沙 洋 县 新闻 中心. Retrieved 31 March 2018. 地区 总 人 口 出 生 总 数 一 孩 二 孩 多 孩 死 亡 期 初 期 末 人 数 出生率 ‰ 符合 政策 生育 人数 符合 政策 生育 % 人 数 符合 政策 生育 人数 其中 : 女孩 人数 一 孩 率 % 人 数 符合 政策 生育 人数 其中 : 女孩 人数 二 孩 率 % 人 数 符合 政策 生育 人数 其中 : 女孩 人数 多 孩 率 % 人 数 死亡 率 ‰ (... ) 五 里 铺 镇 48044 48132 424 8.82 406 95.75 312 312 157 73.58 107 90 47 25.24 5 4 2 1.18 63 1.31 CS1 maint : Unrecognized language ( link ) Jump up ^ `` China to abolish decades - old one - child policy ''. Al Jazeera English. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 30 October 2015. Jump up ^ Jiang, Steven ; Hanna, Jason ( 29 October 2015 ). `` China says it will end one - child policy ''. CNN. Retrieved 29 October 2015. Jump up ^ `` Beschluss der Kommunistischen Partei : China beendet Ein - Kind - Politik '' ( in German ). DE : Tagesschau. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015. Jump up ^ `` China to end one - child policy and allow two ''. BBC News. Jump up ^ `` China to allow two children for all couples ''. Xinhua. 29 October 2015. Jump up ^ Phillips, Tom. `` China ends one - child policy after 35 years ''. The Guardian. Jump up ^ `` The ' model ' example of China 's one child policy ''. BBC News. Jump up ^ `` Top legislature amends law to allow all couples to have two children ''. Xinhua News Agency. 27 December 2015. Jump up ^ `` China formally abolishes decades - old one - child policy ''. International Business Times. 27 December 2015. Jump up ^ Fong, Mei ( 2015 - 10 - 15 ), `` China one - child policy '', National Geographic. ^ Jump up to : China daily, Dec 2014. Jump up ^ `` China ends one - child policy -- but critics warn new two - child policy wo n't end forced abortions ''. The Raw Story. 29 October 2015. Retrieved 29 October 2015. Jump up ^ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2015/10/china-one-child-reform/ ^ Jump up to : Ghitis ( 2015 - 10 - 29 ), China : one - child policy, CNN. Jump up ^ http://www.ejinsight.com/20151105-china-one-child-calamity/ Jump up ^ Dewey, Arthur E ( 16 December 2004 ). `` One - Child Policy in China ''. Senior State Department. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. ^ Jump up to : Zhang, Junsen ( 2017 - 02 - 01 ). `` The Evolution of China 's One - Child Policy and Its Effects on Family Outcomes ''. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 31 ( 1 ) : 141 -- 160. doi : 10.1257 / jep. 31.1. 141. ISSN 0895 - 3309. Jump up ^ Sen, Amartya. `` Population Policy : Authoritarianism versus Cooperation '' ( PDF ). BR : Universidade de Campinas. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2016 - 06 - 23. Jump up ^ Cai, Yong ( Sep 2010 ). `` China 's Below - Replacement Fertility : Government Policy or Socioeconomic Development ? '' ( PDF ). Population and Development Review. 36 ( 3 ) : 419 -- 40. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1728 - 4457.2010. 00341. x. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2015 - 07 - 22. Jump up ^ Li, Shiyu, and Shuanglin Lin. `` Population aging and China 's social security reforms. '' Journal of Policy Modeling 38.1 ( 2016 ) : 65 - 95. Jump up ^ Nie, Jing - Bao ( 7 November 2016 ). `` Erosion of Eldercare in China : a Socio - Ethical Inquiry in Aging, Elderly Suicide and the Government 's Responsibilities in the Context of the One - Child Policy ''. Ageing International. 41 ( 4 ) : 350 -- 365. doi : 10.1007 / s12126 - 016 - 9261 - 7. Jump up ^ Wei, Chen ( 2005 ). `` Sex Ratios at Birth in China '' ( PDF ). Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 18 July 2006. Retrieved 2 March 2009. Jump up ^ `` Chinese facing shortage of wives ''. BBC. 2007 - 01 - 12. Retrieved 2007 - 01 - 12. Jump up ^ Zeng, Yi ; et al. ( 1993 ), `` Causes and Implications of the Recent Increase in the Reported Sex Ratio at Birth in China '', Population and Development Review, 19 ( June ) : 283 -- 302, doi : 10.2307 / 2938438. Jump up ^ Anderson, Barbara A ; Silver, Brian D ( 1995 ), `` Ethnic Differences in Fertility and Sex Ratios at Birth in China : Evidence from Xinjiang '', Population Studies, 49 ( July ) : 211 -- 26, doi : 10.1080 / 0032472031000148476. Jump up ^ Coale, Ansley J ; Banister, Judith ( December 1996 ). `` Five decades of missing females in China ''. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society. 140 ( 4 ) : 421 -- 450. JSTOR 987286. Also printed as `` Five decades of missing females in China ''. Demography. 31 : 459 -- 79. Aug 1994. doi : 10.2307 / 2061752. PMID 7828766. Jump up ^ `` Online dating a path to marriage for young, busy Chinese '', Beijing today, Oct 2015. Jump up ^ Death by Default : A Policy of Fatal Neglect in China 's State Orphanages. New York : Human Rights Watch / Asia. 1996. ISBN 1 - 56432 - 163 - 0. Jump up ^ `` Chinese Orphanages : A Follow - up '' ( PDF ). Human Rights Watch / Asia. March 1996. ^ Jump up to : Johansson, Sten ; Nygren, Olga ( 1991 ). `` The missing girls of China : a new demographic account ''. Population and Development Review. Population Council. 17 ( 1 ) : 35 -- 51. doi : 10.2307 / 1972351. JSTOR 1972351. Jump up ^ Adam Pertman, National center on adoption & permanency. Jump up ^ How China 's one - child policy transformed US attitudes on adoption, NPR, 2015 - 10 - 30. Jump up ^ `` China : Drug bid to beat child ban ''. China Daily. Associated Press. 14 February 2006. Retrieved 11 November 2008. Jump up ^ `` How China 's one - child policy overhauled the status and prospects of girls like me ''. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 February 2016. Jump up ^ Naughton, Barry ( 2007 ). The Chinese Economy : Transitions and Growth. Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press. ISBN 978 - 0262640640. Jump up ^ 李 雯 ( Li Wen ) ( 5 April 2008 ). `` 四 二 一 '' 家庭, 路 在 何方 ? ( ' Four - two - one families ', where is the road going ? ) ( in Chinese ). 云南 日报 网 ( Yunnan Daily Online ). Archived from the original on 18 July 2011. Retrieved 31 January 2011. Jump up ^ 四 二 一 `` 家庭 真 的 是 问题 吗 ? ( Are ' four - two - one ' families really a problem ? ) ( in Chinese ). 中国 人口 学会 网 ( China Population Association Online ). 10 October 2010. Archived from the original on 2011 - 07 - 07. Retrieved 31 January 2011. Jump up ^ `` Rethinking China 's one - child policy ''. CBC. October 28, 2009. Retrieved June 11, 2010. Jump up ^ 计生 委 新闻 发言 人 : 11 % 以上 人口 可 生 两 个 孩子 ( Spokesperson of the one - child policy committee : 11 % or more of the population may have two children ) ( in Chinese ). Sina. 10 July 2007. Retrieved 7 November 2008. Jump up ^ `` China 's most populous province amends family - planning policy ''. People 's Daily Online. 2011 - 11 - 25. Jump up ^ Gluckman, Ron ( 2013 - 12 - 19 ). `` The Ghosts of China 's One - Child Policy ''. Vocativ. Retrieved 3 May, 2018. Jump up ^ 黒 核子 ~ 一人っ子 政策 の 大 失敗 ( Black Children - The Failure of One Child Policy ) ( in Japanese ). Retrieved 10 July 2010. Jump up ^ `` One Child Policy - Laogai Research Foundation ( LRF ) ''. Laogai Research Foundation. Archived from the original on 31 October 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010. Jump up ^ Li, Shuzhuo ; Zhang, Yexia ; Feldman, Marcus W ( 2010 ). `` Birth Registration in China : Practices, Problems and Policies ''. Population research and policy review. 29 ( 3 ) : 297 -- 317. doi : 10.1007 / s11113 - 009 - 9141 - x. PMC 2990197. PMID 21113384. Jump up ^ Ross, S.R.J. ( 2012 ). AQA GCSE Geography A. Cheltenham : Nelson Thornes. p. 182. ISBN 978 - 1 - 4085 - 1708 - 6. Jump up ^ Deane, Daniela ( July 26, 1992 ). `` The Little Emperors ''. The Los Angeles Times. p. 16. Jump up ^ `` Chinese Singletons -- Basic ' Spoiled ' Related Vocabulary ''. Thinking Chinese. November 11, 2010. ^ Jump up to : `` Consultative Conference : ' The government must end the one - child rule ' ''. IT : AsiaNews. 2007 - 03 - 16. Jump up ^ `` Advisors say it 's time to change one - child policy ''. Shanghai Daily. 2007 - 03 - 15. Jump up ^ `` 談天說地 ''. review33. Archived from the original on October 4, 2013. Retrieved 2013 - 10 - 04. Jump up ^ Eugenio, Haidée V. `` Birth tourism on the upswing ''. Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012 - 05 - 16. Jump up ^ Eugenio, Haidée V. `` Many Chinese giving birth in CNMI trying to get around one child policy ''. Saipan Tribune. Archived from the original on 2012 - 12 - 09. Jump up ^ Hardee, Karen, Gu Baochang, and Xie Zhenming. 2000. `` Holding up more than half the sky : Fertility control and women 's empowerment in China, '' paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the Population Association of America, 23 -- 25 March, Los Angeles Jump up ^ Junhong, Chu, June 2001, `` Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex - Selective Abortion in Rural Central China, '' Population and Development Review, Vol. 27, Iss. 2, p. 262. Jump up ^ Hesketh, Therese. Lu, Li. Xing, Zhu Wei, Sept 2005, `` The Effect of China 's One - Child Family Policy After 25 Years, The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 353, Iss. 11. Jump up ^ Junhong, Chu ( 2001 ). `` Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex - Selective Abortion in Rural Central China ''. Population and Development Review. 27 ( 2 ) : 259 -- 81 Jump up ^ Junhong, Chu ( 2001 ). `` Prenatal Sex Determination and Sex - Selective Abortion in Rural Central China ''. Population and Development Review. 27 ( 2 ) : 259 -- 81 Jump up ^ Hvistendahl, Mara ( 17 September 2010 ). `` Has China Outgrown The One - Child Policy ? ''. Science. 329 ( 5998 ) : 1458 -- 61. doi : 10.1126 / science. 329.5998. 1458. PMID 20847244. Jump up ^ Some demographers challenge that number, putting the figure at perhaps half that level. ^ Jump up to : `` Experts challenge China 's 1 - child population claim ''. Jump up ^ `` 336 million abortions under China 's one - child policy ''. Telegraph.co.uk. 15 March 2013. Jump up ^ `` PRC Family Planning : The Market Weakens Controls But Encourages Voluntary Limits ''. U.S. Embassy in Beijing. June 1988. Archived from the original on 2013 - 02 - 18. Jump up ^ PRC journal Social Sciences in China ( Zhongguo, January 1988 ) Jump up ^ Greenhalgh, Susan ( 2003 ). `` Science, Modernity, and the Making of China 's One - Child Policy '' ( PDF ). Population and Development Review. 29 ( June ) : 163 -- 196. doi : 10.1111 / j. 1728 - 4457.2003. 00163. x. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2013 - 10 - 29. ^ Jump up to : `` Over 1,900 officials breach birth policy in C. China ''. Xinhua. 8 July 2007. Archived from the original on 10 October 2008. Retrieved 11 November 2008. But heavy fines and exposures seemed to hardly stop the celebrities and rich people, as there are still many people, who can afford the heavy penalties, insist on having multiple kids, the Hunan commission spokesman said... Three officials... who were all found to have kept extramarital mistresses, were all convicted for charges such as embezzlement and taking bribes, but they were not punished for having more than one child. Jump up ^ `` China : Filmmaker Zhang Yimou fined $1 M for breach of one - child policy - CNN.com ''. CNN. Retrieved 2016 - 01 - 03. Jump up ^ chan, peggy ( 2005 ). Cultures of the world China. New York : Marshall Cavendish International. Jump up ^ Freedman, Lynn P. ; Isaacs, Stephen L. ( Jan -- Feb 1993 ). `` Human Rights and Reproductive Choice '' ( PDF ). Studies in Family Planning. Population Council. 24 ( 1 ) : 18 -- 30. doi : 10.2307 / 2939211. JSTOR 2939211. PMID 8475521. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2013 - 10 - 29. Retrieved 2007 - 12 - 08. Jump up ^ `` Proclamation of Teheran ''. International Conference on Human Rights. 1968. Archived from the original on 2007 - 10 - 17. Retrieved 2007 - 11 - 08. Jump up ^ McElroy, Damien ( 2001 - 04 - 08 ). `` Chinese region ' must conduct 20,000 abortions ' ''. The Telegraph. London. Jump up ^ Mosher, Steven W. ( July 1993 ). A Mother 's Ordeal. Harcourt. ISBN 0 - 15 - 162662 - 6. Jump up ^ Taylor, John ( 2005 - 02 - 08 ). `` China -- One Child Policy ''. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 2008 - 07 - 01. Jump up ^ `` Father in forced abortion case wants charges filed ''. My Way News. Associated Press. 2012 - 07 - 06. Jump up ^ ( subscription required ) `` Implications of China 's Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities ''. China : an International Journal. Jump up ^ Sleeboom - Faulkner, Margaret Elizabeth ( 1 June 2011 ). `` Genetic testing, governance, and the family in the People 's Republic of China ''. Social Science & Medicine. 72 ( 11 ) : 1802 -- 9. doi : 10.1016 / j. socscimed. 2010.03. 052. Jump up ^ `` Marriage Law of the People 's Republic of China '' ( PDF ). Australia : Refugee Review Tribunal. Jump up ^ Moore, Stephen ( 1999 - 05 - 09 ). `` Do n't Fund UNFPA Population Control ''. CATO Institute. Jump up ^ McElroy, Damien ( 2002 - 02 - 03 ). `` China is furious as Bush halts UN ' abortion ' funds ''. The Telegraph. London. Jump up ^ Siv, Sichan ( 2003 - 01 - 21 ). `` United Nations Fund for Population Activities in China ''. U.S. Department of State. Archived from the original on 19 February 2003. Jump up ^ `` UNFPA Welcomes Restoration of U.S. Funding ''. UNFPA News. 29 January 2009. Archived from the original on December 30, 2016. Jump up ^ Rizvi, Haider ( March 12, 2009 ). `` Obama Sets New Course at the U.N. '' IPS News. Inter Press Agency. Jump up ^ Associated Press. `` US State Department position ''. Archived from the original on February 26, 2007. Jump up ^ `` Human Rights in China and Tibet ''. Parliament of the United Kingdom. Jump up ^ Amnesty International. `` Violence Against Women -- an introduction to the campaign ''. Archived from the original on 9 October 2006. Jump up ^ Mosher, Steve ( 1986 ). `` Steve Mosher 's China report ''. The Interim. Jump up ^ `` Case Study : Female Infanticide ''. Gendercide Watch. 2000. Jump up ^ `` Infanticide Statistics : Infanticide in China ''. All Girls Allowed. 2010. Jump up ^ Steffensen, Jennifer. `` Georgetown Journal 's Guide to the ' One - Child ' Policy ''. Retrieved 2013 - 09 - 30. Jump up ^ Lubman, Sarah ( 2000 - 03 - 15 ). `` Experts Allege Infanticide In China -- ' Missing ' Girls Killed, Abandoned, Pair Say ''. San Jose Mercury News. CA. Jump up ^ `` A Second Pregnancy, 1980 '', Paper republic. Further reading Better 10 Graves Than One Extra Birth : China 's Systemic Use of Coercion To Meet Population Quotas. Washington, DC : Laogai Research Foundation. 2004. ISBN 1 - 931550 - 92 - 1. Fong, Mei ( 2015 ). One Child : The Past and Future of China 's Most Radical Experiment. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0 - 544 - 27539 - X. Interview with Mei on her challenges writing the book. Hardee - Cleaveland, Karen ( 1988 ). Family Planning in China : Recent Trends, Volume 3. Center for International Research, U.S. Bureau of the Census. Goh, Esther C.L. ( 2011 ). `` China 's One - Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving : raising little suns in Xiamen '' ( PDF ). Journal of International and Global Studies. New York : Routledge. Archived from the original ( PDF ) on 2012 - 05 - 24. Greenhalgh, Susan ( 2008 ). Just One Child : Science and Policy in Deng 's China ( illustrated ed. ). University of California Press. ISBN 978 - 0 - 520 - 25339 - 1. Johnson, Kay Ann ( 2016 ). China 's Hidden Children : Abandonment, Adoption, and the Human Costs of the One - Child Policy. University Of Chicago Press. ISBN 978 - 0226352510. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Population policy in China. Family Planning in China `` Illegal births and legal abortions -- the case of China ''. Reprod Health. 2 : 5. 2005. doi : 10.1186 / 1742 - 4755 - 2 - 5. PMC 1215519. PMID 16095526. Health in China Healthcare Health Disease surveillance Healthcare system reform Women 's health Health informatics Tobacco Control Association Barefoot doctor Patriotic Health Campaign China Welfare Institute Hospitals in China Medical schools Organ transplantation Medicine and pharmaceutical Medicine Traditional Chinese medicine Pharmacy Pharmaceutical industry Biotechnology Diseases Avian influenza Blue - ear disease Cardiovascular disease Chronic diseases Enterovirus 71 ( EV71 ) Fujian flu Hepatitis B HIV / AIDS Iodine deficiency lead poisoning scandal Leprosy Mental health Obesity Pneumonic plague SARS ( outbreak progress ) Stroke Swine influenza outbreak Tuberculosis Disease - related deaths Government National Health Commission Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention China Drug Administration State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine Hong Kong Department of Health * Macau Secretariat for Social Affairs and Culture * General Administration of Customs Other related issues Demographics Dust storms Environment Food safety Illegal drug trade Pollution Poverty Prostitution Smoking Vegetarianism Violence against doctors in China Yi Nao Water supply and sanitation Studies China - Cornell - Oxford Project ( The China Study ) China Health and Nutrition Survey China Family Panel Studies China Health and Retirement Longitudinal Study * Of special administrative regions Reproductive health Rights Compulsory sterilization Contraceptive security Genital integrity Circumcision controversies Genital modification and mutilation Intersex Education Genetic counseling Pre-conception counseling Sex education Planning Assisted reproductive technology Birth control Childfree / Childlessness Parenting Adoption Childbirth Foster care Safe sex Health Men 's Women 's Vulvovaginal Research Self - report sexual risk behaviors Pregnancy Abortion Birth spacing Maternal health Obstetrics Options counseling Pregnancy from rape Pregnant patients ' rights Prenatal care Teenage pregnancy Preteen pregnancy Unintended pregnancy Medicine Andrology Genitourinary medicine Gynaecology Obstetrics and gynaecology Reproductive endocrinology and infertility Sexual medicine Disorder Disorders of sex development Infertility Reproductive system disease Sexual dysfunction Sexually transmitted infection Clinic By country China India Iran Ireland Pakistan Philippines Singapore United Kingdom Teen United States Teen pregnancy Birth control History Birth control movement in the United States History of condoms Social hygiene movement Timeline of reproductive rights legislation Policy One - child policy Two - child policy Financial Baby bonus Bachelor tax Birth credit Child benefit Tax on childlessness Global human population Major topics Biocapacity Optimum population Overpopulation Malthusian catastrophe Population Population ethics Population momentum Sustainable development Women 's reproductive rights Zero population growth Biological and related topics Family planning Pledge two or fewer Human population planning One - child policy Two - child policy Population biology Population decline Population density Physiological density Population dynamics Population growth Population model Population pyramid Projections of population growth Human impact on the environment Deforestation Desalination Desertification Environmental impact of agriculture of aviation of biodiesel of concrete of electricity generation of the energy industry of fishing of irrigation of mining of off - roading of oil shale industry of palm oil of paper of the petroleum industry of reservoirs of shipping of war Industrialisation Land degradation Land reclamation Overconsumption Pollution Quarrying Urbanization Loss of green belts Urban sprawl Waste Water scarcity Overdrafting Population ecology Carrying capacity Deep ecology Earth 's energy budget Food security Habitat destruction I = P × A × T Malthusian growth model Overshoot ( population ) World energy consumption World energy resources World3 model Literature A Modest Proposal Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind, Peopling of Countries, etc. An Essay on the Principle of Population `` How Much Land Does a Man Need ? '' Operating Manual for Spaceship Earth Population Control : Real Costs, Illusory Benefits The Limits to Growth The Population Bomb The Skeptical Environmentalist The Ultimate Resource Publications Population and Environment Population and Development Review Lists Population and housing censuses by country Metropolitan areas by population Population milestone babies Events and organizations 7 Billion Actions International Conference on Population and Development Population Action International Population Connection Population Matters Population Research Institute United Nations Population Fund Voluntary Human Extinction Movement World Population Day World Population Foundation Related topics Classic Maya collapse Fertility and intelligence Green Revolution Holocene extinction Migration Commons Human overpopulation Human activities with impact on the environment Human migration Lists of countries by population statistics Global Current population Current population ( United Nations ) ( Sub - ) Continents Africa Asia Europe North America Caribbean Oceania South America Intercontinental Americas Arab world Commonwealth of Nations Eurasia European Union Islands Latin America Middle East Cities / urban regions National capitals Cities proper Metropolitan areas Urban areas Megacities Megalopolises Past and future Past population ( United Nations ) Past and future population 1000 1500 1600 1700 1800 1900 1907 1939 2000 2005 Future population Population density Current density Current real density based on food growing capacity Growth indicators Population growth rate Natural increase Birth rate Mortality rate Fertility rate Other demographics Age at first marriage Divorce rate Ethnic and cultural diversity level Foreign - born population Immigrant population Linguistic diversity Median age Net migration rate Number of households Sex ratio Urban population Urbanization Health Antiviral medications for pandemic influenza HIV / AIDS adult prevalence rate Infant and under - five mortality rates Life expectancy Percentage suffering from undernourishment Health expenditure covered by government Suicide rate Total health expenditure per capita Body Mass Index ( BMI ) Education and innovation Bloomberg Innovation Index Education Index International Innovation Index Innovation Union Scoreboard Literacy rate Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies Progress in International Reading Literacy Study Student skills Tertiary education attainment Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study Women 's average years in school World Intellectual Property Indicators Economic Development aid given Official Development Assistance received Employment rate Irrigated land area Human Development Index by country inequality - adjusted Human Poverty Index Imports Income equality Job security Labour force Number of millionaires ( US dollars ) Number of billionaires ( US dollars ) Percentage living in poverty Public sector Sen social welfare function Unemployment rate List of international rankings List of top international rankings by country Lists by country Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=One-child_policy&oldid=843577916 '' Categories : One - child policy Birth control in China Human overpopulation Population ecology Political controversies in China 1978 introductions 1980 introductions 2015 disestablishments in China Cold War history of China Hidden categories : CS1 French - language sources ( fr ) CS1 maint : Unrecognized language CS1 German - language sources ( de ) CS1 uses Chinese - language script ( zh ) CS1 Chinese - language sources ( zh ) CS1 uses Japanese - language script ( ja ) CS1 Japanese - language sources ( ja ) Articles needing more detailed references Pages containing links to subscription - only content Articles containing Chinese - language text All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from May 2018 Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2011 All articles containing potentially dated statements All articles with vague or ambiguous time Vague or ambiguous time from October 2015 Articles containing simplified Chinese - language text Vague or ambiguous time from October 2013 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Asturianu Azərbaycanca Čeština Cymraeg Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto فارسی Français Galego 한국어 हिन्दी Hrvatski Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית ქართული Latviešu Македонски Bahasa Melayu Nederlands नेपाली 日本 語 Norsk Oʻzbekcha / ўзбекча Polski Português Română Русский සිංහල Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska தமிழ் ไทย Türkçe Українська Tiếng Việt 吴语 粵語 38 more Edit links This page was last edited on 30 May 2018, at 02 : 08. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: when did china's 1 child policy end
Answer: near the end of 2015 and the beginning of 2016