People view an exhibition of posters on the country's one-child policy in the 1980s.(Photo/Xinhua)
Two-child messages recommended to encourage couples to have a second baby
Solemn-faced couples holding a hammer and a sickle were a common sight in the early 1980s, when China introduced its one-child policy. They looked out of posters above a red slogan proclaiming, "Controlled population, planned growth".
More than three decades later, Chinese newspapers are displaying photos of smiling parents carrying two infants with the banner "Home with two kids".
In January, China ended its one-child policy and allowed all couples to have two children. The new policy is expected to bring sweeping social changes.
But the slogans have yet to catch up with the new family-planning regimen, said members of China's top advisory body.
Zhu Lianqing, along with 40 other members of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, offered a proposal to modernize outdated slogans promoting birth control and improve family planning services to boost fertility during the CPPCC's annual meeting in March.
Ominous messages
In the world's most populous country, childbearing is not a private issue among families. It has long been viewed as a "revolutionary task" in the national interest.
In the early 1980s, red banners that declared the family planning policy, like Chairman Mao's famous quotations, bedecked city streets; in the countryside, slogans were painted on walls and buildings.
Families that violated the one-child policy were branded "guerrillas", and they sometimes hid to escape huge fines or other penalties.
Traditionally, perpetuating the bloodline is seen as a virtue in China. When New China was founded in 1949, the country was very poor and underdeveloped and the "more people, more power" idea was widely accepted. The population exploded from 540 million in 1949 to 830 million by 1970. The contrast sharpened between limited land and the massive population.
Fearful that uncontrolled growth would restrict economic development, China started strict implementation of a one-child policy, mostly among its urban population in the late 1970s to deal with the population pressures.
Family planning slogans reflected living and production conditions: "Bear fewer children, and plant more trees" or "Raising more children is not as good as raising more pigs".
Some were more ominous, such as "One more baby means one more tomb" and "Uncontrolled births cause houses to collapse".
