China’s singles put their hearts in the hands of the Communist Party
- Local youth branches are acting as matchmakers to help single people struggling to find love in a country where men vastly outnumber women
- In rural areas the imbalance can be ‘beyond 10-to-1’ leading to soaring betrothal gifts as families battle for brides
Zhang Shaoge, 30, put his heart in the hands of the party when he attended an event organised by officials from the local youth branch. “It’s about time to date and get married at this age,” he said.
Zhang, a city-dweller, said he was also under mounting pressure from his family to settle down. “There isn’t anyone suitable around me at the moment, so I wanted to expand my social circle. I don’t come across many women because of my job.”
He is not alone. Party youth branches are increasingly organising events and social introductions for singles, as the world’s most populous nation deals with a gender imbalance amounting to tens of millions more men than women.
Marriage rates have slumped across the country. In 2020, 8.14 million couples registered to marry compared with 13.47 million in 2013, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics (NBS).
Meanwhile, birth rates plunged to 7.52 births per 1,000 people last year, according to NBS data – the lowest figure since 1949 when communist China was founded.
