During the second half of the twentieth century, the Chinese government became concerned about population growth for two main reasons:

• The Chinese wanted to avoid Malthusian-type disaster in the future.

• They realised that China could only have a rising living standard if the population was controlled.

• Big worry about resources of coal and oil could be exhausted in a very short time

• Big worry about huge dependency of a mass of young people

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Chinese population policies have gone through a number of stages:

• 1950-59

• Chairman Mao stated that 'a large population gives a strong nation.' The government encouraged people to have children, but in 1959 there was a serious famine and 20mill people died.

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• 1960 - 73

• After the famine, there was a population boom. The population increased by 55million (the equivalent to the UK population!!!) every year and nothing was being done to reduce the birth rate.

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• 1974 - 79

• There was a policy change, and people were encouraged to reduce the birth rate by the slogan 'wan-xi-shao' (later, longer, fewer):

• Later marriages

• Longer gaps between children

• Fewer children

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• 1979 - 90

• The 'wan-xi-shao' policy did not work and the population continued to increase. In 1979, the government introduced the ONE CHILD POLICY.

The one child policy set strict limits on who was allowed to have children, and when.

Strong pressure was put on women to use contraception.

Special family planning workers were placed in every workplace.

'Granny police' were instructed to make sure women were practicing contraception, and to report on pregnancies.

Forced abortions and sterilisations became common.

The policy was successful in urban areas, but not so much in rural areas, where disobedience was more common.

The policy also had an adverse effect in that couples wanted sons to carry on the family name and therefore there was a rise in female infanticide (the killing, or 'disappearance' of baby girls).

The dominance of male babies also led to 'spoilt little emperor syndrome.' The attention of the whole family was on one child.

• 1990 onwards

• The one child policy has been relaxed slightly, as it was very difficult to enforce and the Chinese government was concerned about the economic implications of a population with more elderly people than younger ones. Also, increased usage of global communications (e.g. internet, satellite phones) has meant the country has much greater influence from the West. In remote areas, the policy is still encouraged. For example, the authorities in Guangdong, the state capital, ordered 20,000 abortions and sterilisations by the end of 2001 in the mountainous region of Huaiji.

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• By 2006

• Annual growth rate had fallen to 0.6%, but the fertility rate was still 1.6. The Chinese government has moved to a health-orientated policy, and committed itself to implement international agreements, which promote mother and child welfare.

• However, the long-term aim is still to stabilise population growth by 2050.