Many of these changes mirror what has taken place in other developing countries, but Chen Yiyun, a professor at China's Academy of Social Sciences, points to one factor unique to China: its one-child policy, which is still widely observed in cities.

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Similarly, Japan pledged continued adherence to its longstanding "one-China" policy.

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By 2050, the employed community in the developing world, not including China with its one-child policy, is projected to increase by 50 percent.

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And China's one-child policy was an entirely home-grown idea, although it had its foreign admirers.

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