A communication analysis of China’s family planning campaigns

Abstract

In China, April 13, 1989 was marked as the "1.1 Billion Population Day. "Though it has become the first "demographic billionaire" in the world, China has obtained remarkable results in population control. According to the statement issued by China's National Bureau of Statistics in 1987, the natural population growth rate dropped from-25.83 per thousand in 1970 to11.28 per thousand in 1985. This has been viewed as an achievement not previously seen in any other population. In the past four decades, the Chinese Government has adopted a population policy to organize the fertility transition in a planned way through education, motivation and persuasion. Five communication campaigns have been instituted to implement the policy. The successive family planning campaign shave played a vital role in educating and persuading individuals to accept the new fertility norms advocated by the government. In the communication processes of these campaigns, the strategies used have changed from the media-oriented strategy of the first campaign, to the introduction of an interpersonal approach in the second followed by an integration of media, interpersonal and organizational communication in the three latest campaigns. The integration of the media and interpersonal communication approaches was achieved through group discussion sessions and home visits, in which media messages were mediated and interpreted as a reinforcement to media impact. The group dynamics in the interpersonal communication has played an important role in changing individuals' attitudes towards and behaviour of family planning. As a campaign is an organized activity which requires organizational channels to ensure the conduct of the activity and the flow of information, a well-established organization hierarchy for family planning work has facilitated the management of family planning campaigns and also been regarded as a fundamental element to the success of the later campaigns.

Date of Award	1989
Original language	English