Seminar One Culture Research
As the largest country in the world to date, China holds a population of over 1.3 billion people; 1,355,692,576 to be exact (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). China’s population makes up around 19.3% of the world’s population (World Population Statistics, 2014). According to World Population Statistics (2014), "Based on the population and the total area of the country, the population density of China in 2014 is estimated to be about 145 people per square kilometer or 375 people per square mile (Para 1)." The average life span of individuals in the country is 75.15 as of July 2014 (Central Intelligence Agency, 2014). China is recorded to rank number nine in the world population for people of age 100 and higher (World Population Statistics, 2014). Currently, the amount of people of the age 100+ is 14, 803 (World Population Statistics, 2014).
China's total Gross Domestic Product amounted to $13.374 trillion as of 2013 (Workman, 2014). About 16.5% of exports are accounted for of the country's total economic output (Workman, 2014). While China has ten largely grossing export product groups, the biggest export is electronic equipment (Workman, 2014). Grossing at a grand $561,703,550,000, this top export makes up of 25.4% of total exports in the country (Workman, 2014). The biggest import is electrical and other machinery such as office machine parts, insulated wire, low-voltage protection equipment and rubber tires (Workman, 2014). China exports far more than it imports, especially to the United States. For instance, the U.S. receives almost 398 billion worth of goods, while its combined imports from its top three trading partners only reach about 392 billion dollars (The Observatory of Economic Complexity, 2014).
The new insights I have learned about China is the Family Planning Policy, also referred to as the One-Child Policy. While I have heard of this briefly in the past, I was unaware of the details surrounding the policy. For instance, there are a few exceptions to the rule such as if the first child is a girl or disabled. Thus, allowing the family to have another child. Another exception is if at least one of the parents has no siblings then they are able to have two children. According to World Population Statistics (2014), "Some controversies surrounding the policy, both in China and throughout the rest of the world, include the increase in forced abortions, female infanticide, and an increased imbalance among the sexes in China (Para 2)." Many believe the law is a violation of basic human rights and the government should not be able to dictate the lives of faithful citizens (World Population Statistics, 2014).
While this policy may appear to be extreme or a bit bizarre, I do offer China some credit to creating such a plan to control the social, economic, and environmental issues that came due to the high population of the country. I even considered if this could and/or should be enforced in the United States, especially when you think of reality television which has focused on individuals such as The Duggars, Kate and John, and the infamous Octomom. However, my revelations are of freedom and being able to respect the benefits that parenthood has to offer. As a mother of two and pray fully three as my husband and I are considering adoption, I yearn for another addition to our little family. The blessing of our boys is incredible but I cannot shake the desire of a daughter so I can play tea party and pass down my grandmother's recipes. As human beings we should be entitled to how we position ourselves in life and our idea of a complete family and happiness.

References
Central Intelligence Agency. (2014). The World Factbook - China. Retrieved September 24,
2014 from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ch.html
The Observatory of Economic Complexity. (2014). Learn More about Trade in China. Retrieved
September 29, 2014 from http://atlas.media.mit.edu/profile/country/chn/
Workman, D. (2014). China's Top 10 Exports. Retrieved September 24, 2014 from http://www.worldstopexports.com/chinas-top-10-exports/1952 World Population Statistics. (2014). Population of China 2014. Retrieved September 24, 2014 from http://www.worldpopulationstatistics.com/population-of-china-2014/