The 在。。。时 structure

[Desmond]

I just came across this structure but I'm having difficulty understanding how it works. I'll give you guys the sentence it's in (which I can understand pretty well, but just dont' see how the structure comes into play)

"独生子女文化" 时指中国在培养独生子女是形成的一种特殊文化

thanks!

[Quest]

"独生子女文化" 是指中国在培养独生子女时形成的一种特殊文化。

[HashiriKata]

I'm having difficulty understanding how it works

The 在 here is the ordinary 在 you see in "in/at/on a certain time": at 3 oclock, in 1995, etc. In your sentence, the time however is not a specific figure but is "the time when the only child is growing up/ brought up" (= 培养独生子女时). So we've now got : "at the time when the only child is growing up/ brought up", which is structurally the same as "at 3 o'clock", for example.

[MarkKang]

I'ld have to agree with Quest, otherwise it seems very odd.