China's One Child Policy

In 1949 the founding father of The People’s Republic of China, Chairman Mao

Zedong proclaimed that: "of all things in the world, people are the most precious." Mao’s

proclamation is appropriate as China was and remains the most populace nation on

Earth. Under the leadership of Mao’s Communist Party the government condemned

birth control and outlawed the importation of contraceptives . This combined with

improved medical standards, allowed for huge population growth. However in 1979,

China’s population was on the verge of reaching one billion people. In an attempt to stifle

this rapid growth the government introduced the one-child policy.

Since then, the fertility rate in China has steadily declined and the population has