<Tr> <Th_colspan="2"> Standard Mandarin </Th> </Tr> <Tr> <Th> Hanyu Pinyin </Th> <Td> Dúshēng zǐnǚ zhèngcè </Td> </Tr> <P> 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 in 2015 . The policy 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 56% 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 . </P> <P> According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented . This claim has been called "bogus" by Martin K. Whyte with claims that previous coercive family planning already accounted for much of the decline; "three - quarters of the decline in fertility since 1970 occurred before the launching of the one - child policy; and most of the further decline in fertility since 1980 can be attributed to economic development ." Although 76% of Chinese people supported the policy in a 2008 survey, it was controversial outside of China . </P>

When was the one child policy put in place