The wedding price in China is rapidly declining. In 2024, there were 6.1 million relationship licenses globally, along from 7.7 million in the previous year. A national political adviser to China’s Chen Songxi has been inspired by this decline to propose a lower lawful marriage era, from 22 to 18.
China’s wedding rate has decreased as a result of a number of factors. These include higher levels of education, changing social attitudes toward marriage, and increased financial pressures.
Particularly in urban Chinese women are increasingly challenging conventional gender stereotypes, which view marriage and pregnancy as crucial life goals. Some young people are unable to afford to get married because of rising living expenses.
China is also grappling with a long-standing female imbalance, which is a result of the country’s strict one-child policy and preference for adult children in China. China’s gender ratio at baby reached 121 kids for every 100 women in the early 2000s, when the imbalance was at its height. There were more than 130 kids born for every 100 women born in some regions.
The sex imbalance is especially evident in those who were born in the 1980s, a technology I am a part of. Since the mid-1980s, which gave families the option to end their child’s pregnancy if their baby was a woman, the use of ultrasound technology has become more common.
In China, unmarried men have merged into the infamous “era of leftover men” ( shengnan shidai in Chinese ). This is a loosely defined name on the internet that loosely refers to the 2020 to 2050 time, when an estimated 30 to 50 million Foreign men are expected to be unable to get a wife.
The problem is that many of these “leftover” people want to marry, and I am aware of this from the outset. Some of my primary and secondary school classmates have been trying desperately to find a family but have had trouble finding one. This struggle is best expressed by a phrase that is frequently used in China ( jiehun nan ).
Some Chinese people have turned to “purchasing” international weddings because they are able to find a home family. A surge in illegal marriages has been attributed to the rising demand for these wives, particularly in rural areas. This includes couples involving women who have been trafficked into China from Southeast Asian neighbors and involved in trafficking, especially children who have been there for years.
A porous border and a lack of response by law enforcement on both flanks [has ] created an environment in which criminals flourish, according to a Human Rights Watch statement released in 2019 on wedding smuggling from Myanmar to China.
The Taiwanese government has today pledged to repress the business. China’s Ministry of Public Security launched a campaign in March 2024 to combat multinational trafficking of women and children, calling for improved international cooperation to stop these crimes.
international wives who have been “purchased”
According to China’s State Council, these relationships are frequently arranged through casual sites or business organizations, both of which are outlawed and illegal.
According to Human Rights Watch, agents who promise well-paying jobs in China frequently trick women and girls in neighboring states. When they arrive in China, they are left at the mercy of the agents, and they are offered to Chinese men for between US$ 3, 000 and US$ 1, 000.
Due to the secret nature of these actions, it is difficult to determine the amount of unlawful cross-border marriages in China. However, the most recent information from the UK’s Home Office suggests that 90 % of Vietnamese victims of human trafficking were smuggled to China, with women and children accounting for 90 % of the cases.
An award-winning film from 2022, The Girl from Myanmar, follows the story of a smuggled Myanmar girl who was forced to marry in China. The movie exposes the terrible realities that some brides who have been trafficked encounter.
It captures not only the force and abuse that many of these people go through, but also their fight for freedom and success in a world where they are treated as assets. A recruited person featured in the film, Larry, stated that she saw her ability to survive as her ability to bear children.
The Chinese government keeps issuing scams involving weddings bought worldwide. For instance, in November 2024, two people were charged with part in an improper cross-border matching structure. Chinese men were lured into “marriage tours” worldwide with the promise of “affordable” international wives, which turned out to be extremely expensive.
There have also been instances in which illegal brides have vanished with large sums of money before the wedding is set to be final.
China’s relationship crisis has profound effects on the nation’s statistical future. The greatest obstacle to Chinese economic development and social security is often cited as a dwindling and aging population. Beijing has refrained from putting this claim to use as evidence that economic development will continue to be fueled by continuous technological advancement.
Unquestionably, the work force plays a significant role in economic growth. What matters more is powerful work, the solution of both the quantity and the quality of the labour force, according to Justin Lin Yifu, a part of the advisory body for the Chinese Women’s Political Consultative Conference.
In order to meet the challenges that will arise from its aging people, China has continued to invest in learning over the past few years.
The large number of left men, however, could be a bigger issue because of their significant impact on social security, which is even more concerning. Studies have shown that large male-to-male sex ratios and crime charges are related to one another’s significant identity imbalance, both in China and India.
Research has revealed that since the mid-1990s, skewed male-sex numbers have been responsible for roughly 14 % of the increase in crime there. And modeling suggests that a 5.5 % increase in the male-sex amount would increase the chances of young people being harassed by more than 20 % in India.
Who will be married to China’s lone people is gaining in popularity in Beijing. The administration’s answer will determine the country’s future for many years to come.
Ming Gao is a study scholar at Lund University’s History Department.
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