<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 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 . </P> <P> According to the Chinese government, 400 million births were prevented . This claim has been called into question 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 ." Countries with similar socioeconomic development like Thailand and Iran, along with the Indian states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu, have had 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 . </P>

What did china do to control its population