The document discusses China's population control policies over several decades. It notes that China implemented its one-child policy in 1979 to curb rapid population growth and stabilize the population at 1.2 billion by 2000. The policy used incentives and penalties to encourage urban couples to have only one child, while rural families faced pressure and oversight from health workers to delay marriage, birthspacing, and use of contraceptives or abortion if they exceeded one child. The strict policy was unprecedented globally and helped transform China's economy.