China has the world's largest population with 1.3 billion people, which is 20% of the global population despite having only the third largest land area. In the 1950s and 1960s, the Chinese government encouraged large families but population growth became a problem by the 1970s due to lack of resources. To control the population, China instituted a one-child policy in 1979 that limited urban families to one child through fines and other penalties for additional children. The policy was successful in reducing birth rates from 31 to 19 per 1000 people over 20 years, avoiding an estimated 230 million more people. However, by the late 20th century this caused concerns about replacing the aging population, so restrictions were lifted and China's population is now recovering