China Insight
Writings on the Wall: Removing China’s One-Child Policy Propaganda
While there are more efforts to erase old propaganda slogans, some people don’t understand the rush: “It’s ingrained in our memories already.”
For decades, slogans written on walls all across China propagandized the country’s one-child policy.
In many places, especially in rural areas, these old slogans withstood the test of time and are still visible on brick walls or roadside signs.
Image via The Observer on Weibo @观察者网
China implemented its one-child policy in 1979, which lasted until the ‘two-child policy’ was introduced in 2016.
Especially in China’s rural areas, wall propaganda was an important way to disseminate the country’s one-child policy.
This year, these old propaganda slogans have been getting more attention in Chinese media. In February, Health Times (健康时报) noted how this kind of propaganda was still visible in many places in China, from Hebei to Gansu, from Shanxi to Hunan, despite their messages being completely outdated.
While the messages emphasize that it is better to have one child and that couples should not have a second or third child, Chinese authorities are now encouraging couples to have more than one child due to the country’s falling birthrates (see our recent article here).
The propaganda from the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, therefore, is not just outdated, it also goes against everything the government is currently promoting to citizens.
Image via Weibo user @冰霜里的火焰瓶.
These are some examples of well-known or common one-child policy propaganda slogans:
■ 超生者倾家荡产 Chāoshēngzhě qīng jiā dàng chǎn
“Those who have more children than allowed will lose a family fortune.”
■ 少生优生，幸福一生 Shǎo shēng yōushēng, xìngfú yīshēng
“Give birth to fewer but better [healthier] children, and you will have a happy life.”
■ 晚婚晚育，少生优生 Wǎnhūn wǎnyù, shǎo shēng yōushēng
“Late marriage and late childbearing, fewer and better births”
■ 一人超生，全村结扎 Yīrén chāoshēng, quán cūn jiézā
“One person bears one more child, and the whole village gets their tubes tied”
■ 宁可血流成河不可多生一个 Nìngkě xuè liú chénghé bùkě duō shēng yīgè
“Rather blood flowing like streams than have an extra child”
Image via Weibo user @冰霜里的火焰瓶.
In the article “Wall Slogans: the Communication of China’s Family Planning Policy in Rural Areas” by Guoyan Wang, the author notes how many of these ubiquitous slogans – especially the shocking ones – were “obvious misinterpretations” of China’s official family planning policy – locally widely used, but not part of the central slogans. Instead of giving warning or providing information, these bloody slogans actually provoked people’s antipathy and resistance instead of (p. 102, 2018).
Nevertheless, they lasted for years and became a “mirror of social times” (p. 99).
According to Wang, the campaign to clean up these slogans already started in 2007, long before the end of the one-child policy, because the National Population and Family Planning Commission wanted to get rid of those slogan that were not “people-oriented” (p. 105-106).
While getting rid of non-official slogans was already part of China’s “family planning efforts in the new age” in 2007, it is all the more important now in a time when China moved away from the one-child policy and also allows couples to have three children – or even more.
“Fewer and better births are good for the country and the people.” Image via Btime.
On Weibo, where the topic of the old slogans being removed was discussed under various hashtags (#计划生育宣传语应及时清理#, #多地清理计划生育过时宣传语#), some people think the slogans should not be removed because they have historical value or that they should be preserved in other ways.
Cleaning up old propaganda, image via Netease/Weibo @搜狐新闻.
Removing old propaganda posters or info boards, image via Sanlian Weekly 三联生活周刊.
“It does not matter [if they remove them or not],” another commenter wrote: “They’ve already become ingrained in our minds.”
“Is removing them like pretending it never happened?” others wondered: “Why the rush?”
By Manya Koetse
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References:
Wang, Guoyan. 2018. “Wall Slogans: the Communication of China’s Family Planning Policy in Rural Areas.” Rural History 29 (1): 99-112.
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China Insight
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Chapter Dive
Red Carpet, Pandas, and Power: How China Read the Trump-Xi Summit
On Chinese social media, Washington’s red-carpet reception wasn’t just diplomacy but read as recognition of China’s restored status on the global stage.
Originally published in the Eye on Digital China newsletter on Sunday, September 27, 2026. Want to receive the next edition in your inbox? Become a paid subscriber here.
The past week was all about the Trump-Xi meeting in Washington. On mainstream Chinese social media feeds, much of the focus wasn’t on what was discussed, who gained what, or what was promised. It was about: How was China welcomed? How far did they go? How exceptional was the reception? And what does this say about China’s status as a major power on the world stage today?
Symbolic moments mattered more than strategic talks. Within that framework, President Trump, along with First Lady Melania Trump, hit the right notes.
The US visit by Xi Jinping and First Lady Peng Liyuan began on Wednesday (Sep 23), with Donald Trump and the First Lady personally welcoming them at Joint Base Andrews, a highly unusual move. Presidents typically receive foreign leaders at the White House; in recent decades, airport welcomes at Andrews have been reserved almost exclusively for popes. The last comparable presidential welcome was Kennedy’s 1962 greeting of British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan, a particularly close US ally at the time.
Wednesday’s welcome came with a red carpet, which members of the US military meticulously inspected and cleaned on their hands and knees right before Xi and Peng’s arrival. A photo of that scene was widely shared on Chinese social media, where many netizens seemed both bemused and struck by the sight of Americans quite literally bending over backward for their Chinese guests, with one popular Weibo account (@提刀探花在缅北) writing: “This is a scene that we will remember for decades.”
Red-carpet preparation at Joint Base Andrews
At the White House welcome ceremony on Thursday (Sep 24), where both leaders delivered remarks, Trump touched on the history of war and mentioned the American volunteer fighter group in China — the Flying Tigers — saying:
🗣️ “If we focus on our common interest, I’m confident there is much we can achieve. Throughout history, the pursuit of those common interests has connected our people across the vast oceans, across big, tremendous distances and many differences, and even made us allies in World War II. Look at the greatness we had together fighting in World War II.”
After the Washington summit concluded, Trump posted on Truth Social, calling the meeting one of “Friendship, Strength, and Success, for both China and the U.S.A.,” and adding that he looked forward to the next US-China meeting in November.
Historical Memory at the White House
But why did the special treatment given to the Chinese delegation in the US seem to matter so much in China, especially considering the ubiquitous anti-American sentiment of recent years? Not only did official media highlight it, but it also resonated strongly with netizens and became the defining story about this meeting on social media.
It goes much deeper than flattery.
Narratives of “never…
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