China's one-child policy was the brainchild of a rocket scientist, and was in place for 36 years.

Intended to curb population growth while the nation grew more prosperous, it caused immense suffering, and its ill-effects may prove irreversible. Mei describes contemporary China as 'too old, too male and too few'.

By the time the government announced it was switching to a nationwide two-child policy in 2015, China had a surplus of 30 million marriageable men.

The generation of Chinese people who fuelled the country's manufacturing boom is ageing; and doing so with far fewer workers to support it.

Another tragic consequence of the policy, is the more than one million couples who have suffered the death of their 'one child'.

Mei is an American, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who reported in Asia for over a decade, and was the Wall Street Journal's China correspondent.

She is currently a fellow at thinktank New America.

Further information and listening

One Child: the story of China's most radical experiment is published by OneWorld publications

Listen to Xinran's conversation about the women of China who lost their daughters