In the three decades that China's one-child policy has been in place, the Chinese government claims it has prevented 400 million births.
Its implementation has been relaxed over the years with numerous exemptions now permitted, but its longer-term consequences are becoming increasingly apparent - particularly in the country's growing gender imbalance.
A report conducted by Chinese and Western scientists and published in the British Medical Journal last year found that in 2005 there were 32 million more males than females aged under 20 in China.
A by-product of China's 30-year-old family planning policies, this gender imbalance is now manifested most clearly among those of marrying age.
The Chinese Academy of Social Science estimates that by 2020, 24 million Chinese men will be unable to find a wife.