Chapter Dive

How the One-Child Policy Has Improved Women’s Status in China

An article on Chinese social media argues that the One Child Policy has greatly benefited the status of Chinese women, and that the shift to a so-called Two Child Policy is actually a setback for women’s rights in China. What’s on Weibo explains.

Published

10 years ago

February 7, 2017

Manya Koetse

Female empowerment is perhaps not the first thing that springs to mind when discussing China’s One-Child Policy (1979-2016), which is mainly known for creating hardships for Chinese women. But a recent Feminist Webforum’s article on Chinese social media argues that the One-Child Policy has greatly benefited the status of women in Chinese society, and that the shift to a so-called Two Child Policy is a setback for women’s rights in China. What’s on Weibo explains.

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Manya Koetse

Manya Koetse is a sinologist, writer, and public speaker specializing in China’s social trends, digital culture, and online media ecosystems. She founded What’s on Weibo in 2013 and now runs the Eye on Digital China newsletter. Learn more at manyakoetse.com or follow her on X, Instagram, or LinkedIn.

6 Comments

Matteo

February 8, 2017 at 11:47 pm

Probably they could achieve the same result following the path made by other countries, instead of torturing people for decades.

Reply
- fgt
  
  February 17, 2017 at 10:49 am
  
  Like India? Who’s still struggling to implement a three-child policy and suffers from chronic local famines to this day?
  
  The common misconception is to attempt to compare China with Japan, South Korea and Taiwan and similiar high-income and fully developed countries. All these countries achieved their growth with as little population pressure as China or India is currently attempting. And, yes, they made it. At Easy Mode. Congratulations to them.
  
  For extremely populated countries like China or India, any economic growth divident will be immediately swallowed up by the masses of poor population who are multiplying exponentially due to natural reasons, such as hardships and insecure resource supplies. Ever wondered why poor people in less developed countries happen to have 20+ children? Because it’s a natural thing to do, if you cant ensure the survival of every child: Humans and animal alike will automatically give birth to as many as they can, so that at least some children will survive to carry on the genetic line. Sounds pretty inhumane and cruel, but that’s nature for you. And as such, extremely populated countries who do not act, happen to be sentenced to eternal poverty.
  
  China did the right thing: They have curtailed their population growth by brute force, so that the little economic gains at the start of the reform and opening phase wouldnt be swallowed up by the population pressure.
  
  Look at India for what China would be today, if they didnt torture their people for a greater good.
  
  Reply
Shiner

February 13, 2017 at 8:55 pm

Not wanting to refute your conclusions, but “one of the highest rate of women in management positions” is incorrect.
The shown table is in alphabetic order. This should have been picked up easily.
Also, it might have been more clear in the most recent CS Gender 3000 report of last year, where China has been trailing behind and has actually dropped on the list in the last between 2010 and 2015.
See also page 8 on
http://publications.credit-suisse.com/tasks/render/file/index.cfm?fileid=5A7755E1-EFDD-1973-A0B5C54AFF3FB0AE

Reply
- admin
  
  February 14, 2017 at 12:11 am
  
  Thank you for the heads up, you are of course completely right – don’t know how I could’ve missed that. It is now adjusted in the article. Appreciate the input. Best, Manya
  
  Reply
Jim Harkness

May 5, 2017 at 12:57 am

Interesting to see what people are saying about this issue, but most of the woman-benefiting measures mentioned could have happened without the One Child Policy, (and in fact preceded it) and it’s hard not to notice the 50 million missing women and girls that resulted from the Policy. Of course, context is everything. If the Policy had not coincided with the Household Production Responsibility System being instituted in agriculture, many of the negative impacts would have been considerably smaller.

Reply
google street view

March 20, 2019 at 7:24 am

Manya, thanks for this very insightful article.

Reply

Chapter Dive

The Power of Ugly: Why Niu Lai Became China’s Unlikeliest Box-Office Hit

How the two-person animated film Niu Lai turned its “ugly” visuals, dreamcore nostalgia, and remarkable cinema journey into a nationwide participatory meme.

Published

4 weeks ago

August 22, 2026

Manya Koetse

A mother-and-son duo’s animated 3D film earned just 342 yuan ($US50) on opening day. Then its crude visuals turned it into a viral success, propelling it into the top ten of the year’s domestic animated releases. A meaningless ‘miracle’ or sign of shifting cultural sentiments? An explainer.

Something extraordinary has happened in Chinese cinemas this month. A tiny animated film about a yellow cow on a dreamlike adventure opened in a few hundred Chinese theaters on August 5, 2026, with zero promotion and no trailer. On its first day, the movie’s box office revenue totaled just 342 yuan (US$50).

Nobody could have expected that this microbudget indie movie, initially playing to empty seats, would become a nationwide viral hit—not because people thought it was good, but because they found it so aesthetically ugly.

The 86-minute 3D animation is titled Niu Lai (牛来, literally “Here Comes the Cow/The Cow Comes”). It was produced by just two people from Dalian: 34-year-old Xin Yumeng (信雨萌) and his mother, Sun Lifang (孙丽芳). The pair spent five years making it.

The plot follows a young calf named Niu Lai, who is too afraid to stand. In his dreams, he befriends a skylark and a young leopard on a sometimes-scary adventure, during which he grows up, loses his mother in a wolf attack, and eventually wakes up with new life lessons.

Despite being complete newcomers to the film industry, Xin and his mother handled everything themselves, from directing and writing to animation, voice acting, and music—theirs were the only two names in the end credits.

They registered the script in 2021 and, after passing the content review, received a public-screening permit in 2024. The narrative contained no apparent sensitivities, and all the paperwork was in order. A film distributor they knew reportedly helped them secure screenings at a few hundred cinemas (even though, after seeing the film’s quality, he had advised them against a theatrical release).

Around August 13-14, the movie went viral when a few netizens who saw it shared their disbelief at the primitive visuals, which contrasted sharply with the…

China Digital

How Chinese AI Videos Turned Foreigners into Villains

How viral AI videos turn racialized outsiders into threats and violent Chinese heroes into defenders of social order, China’s first nationally broadcast AI drama, and why a newspaper is being sold for 50 times its original price.

Published

1 month ago

August 3, 2026

Manya Koetse

Welcome to China Trend Watch (Week 30–33 | 2026), where I bring you the latest trends, memes, and debates driving conversation across Chinese social media. Subscribe here to receive future editions.

Over the past few weeks, a noteworthy amount of AI-related news has been trending on Chinese social media, which is reflected in this week’s edition.

Now that AI has entered every corner of media consumption and online life, related discussions seem…