The one-per-hundred survey conducted in mid 1987 in China provides the 1st national data to study recent fertility changes with. Using a recently developed extension of the own-children method (OCM) period parity progression ratios (PPPRs) are calculated. Most of the rise in fertility during 1986 and 1987 was due to increasing proportions of women going from 1st to 2nd birth. This is the progression that the 1- child family program is aimed at. Relationships are suggested between recent population movements and government birth planning policy. Birth histories have been reconstructed for 172446 women aged 15-64 by application of the OCM to a 5% subsample of the one-per-hundred survey. The own-children matching procedure is done first. Each woman or reproductive age in each sample household is matched with the children in that household who are her own children. The resulting own-children history (OCH) differs from the birth history by excluding the deceased and children children not living in the same household as their mother. Information about children ever born and surviving tells how many deceased and non-own children are missing. These missing children are added on to the OCH using data on when the OC were born; age at marriage of the women; and empirical patterns of fertility and mortality. Results are compared from a reconstituted birth history (from the 1982 on-per-thousand survey). PPPRs for 1955-87 are shown. In higher-order PPPRs from 2nd to 3rd birth and higher a longterm decline continued through 1986. The fertility level rose by 13% between 1985 and 1987 compared with an increase of 8% in conventional total fertility ratios. Nearly 90% of the growth was due to rising progression levels from 1st to 2nd birth. This was due to a 1-child family policy. Overall progression levels of births of higher orders have been going down since 1982 because of government efforts to control births of 3rd and higher orders. (authors modified)