Published online by Cambridge University Press: 31 July 2008
This paper examines patterns of fertility and family planning in China, particularly by an analysis of recently available provincial data for the period around 1981. Fertility rates in the more urban and developed parts of China are very low, approximating those of countries with the lowest fertility rates in the world. Family planning in these areas is also very common and widespread. The more rural and interior areas of China, however, are characterized by much higher fertility rates and by much lower family planning rates. Family planning variables are very good predictors of provincial fertility.