Skip to navigation Skip to main content
Access provided by
Yi Fuxian

Yi Fuxian

28 commentaries

Yi Fuxian, a senior scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, spearheaded the movement against China’s one-child policy. His book Big Country with an Empty Nest (China Development Press, 2013), initially banned, now ranks first in China Publishing Today’s 100 Best Books of 2013 in China.

Sort by: Show:
  1. A group of seniors gather on benches in a park in Fuyang City, Anhui Province, China, illustrating the country’s growing elderly population and the social reality of demographic aging. Sheldon Cooper/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

    Can China Reverse Its Demographic Decline?

    Jan 20, 2026 Yi Fuxian explains why declining fertility presents Chinese authorities with a uniquely difficult challenge.

  2. Two women walk in Beijing on Jan 4, 2026, amid China’s declining population a decade after the one-child policy ended. Adek Berry/Getty Images

    The End of China’s One-Child Policy, Ten Years Later

    Jan 7, 2026 Yi Fuxian shows how high-level officials were able to obscure the failure of family-planning rules.

  3. A medical worker takes care of a newborn at Dongfang Hospital in Lianyungang, China. Nur Photo/Getty Images

    Will China Forcibly Boost Fertility?

    Dec 3, 2025 Yi Fuxian thinks the positive effects of incentives will be temporary, while more coercive measures are unlikely.

  4. Image for What Ancient Rome Can Teach China About Demographic Collapse Heritage Art/Getty Images

    What Ancient Rome Can Teach China About Demographic Collapse

    Aug 7, 2025 Yi Fuxian draws parallels between the empire’s missteps and the Chinese government’s efforts to avoid a similar fate.

  5. Image for China’s Housing Crisis Is Worse Than It Seems CFOTO/Getty Images

    China’s Housing Crisis Is Worse Than It Seems

    Jul 3, 2025 Yi Fuxian fears that the country’s policymakers have learned nothing from Japan’s experience.