[Correspondent Diary] Chinese Women, 'Precious Beings'

Gender Imbalance and Real Estate Prices Drive Dowries Sky-High for Chinese Men
Chinese Civil Affairs Ministry Publicly Announces Measures to Curb Excessive Dowry and Wedding Malpractices

[Asia Economy Beijing=Special Correspondent Jo Young-shin] China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs announced on the 18th that during the 14th Five-Year Economic Plan period (2021?2025, 14·5), it will focus on cracking down on harmful customs existing in weddings, such as demanding marriage gifts.

Jiang Zhender, Deputy Director of the Ministry of Civil Affairs’ Social Affairs Bureau, stated in the '14·5 Civil Affairs Development Plan Special Briefing' that marriage, harmony, and family happiness are the foundation of social stability. The core of this announcement is to correct China’s improper wedding customs, including marriage gifts.

Photo by Baidu capture

The Ministry of Civil Affairs had previously designated 15 regions nationwide, including Hebei Province, Inner Mongolia, Liaoning Province, Jilin Province, Guangdong Province, and Chongqing City, as 'Marriage Reform Experimental Zones.' Both underdeveloped rural areas and major cities with skyrocketing housing prices were included.

On the Chinese internet, it is openly discussed that depending on the region and city, marriage gifts can range from as low as 50,000 yuan to as high as 300,000 yuan (approximately 53 million KRW). Considering China’s per capita GDP is around 10,000 USD, this is a significant amount. There is also a widely spread notion online that owning a car and a house is a prerequisite for being eligible to marry.

The enormous costs borne by the groom’s side are problematic, but they also cause frequent disputes. In fact, China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency reported a case where a man who divorced just two months after marriage filed a lawsuit demanding the return of 260,000 yuan from his wife and her family, and received 160,000 yuan back.

Chinese experts analyze that the problematic dowry system leads to declining marriage rates and birth rates. They also point to soaring real estate prices as a major factor causing hesitation in marriage.

Additionally, the skewed gender ratio between men and women is identified as a problem. As of last year, China’s sex ratio (number of males per 100 females) was 105.07. Although this is an improvement compared to 10 years ago when it was 105.20, it is still roughly the same.

According to China’s 7th National Population Census last year, the population was 1.412 billion. Of these, 723 million were male and 688 million were female. Simply put, 35 million men cannot marry. Analysis suggests that in major cities, men cannot marry due to lack of housing, while in rural areas, men cannot marry due to a shortage of women. China CCTV recently reported that the number of single-person households in China has reached 240 million, exceeding the combined populations of the UK, France, and Germany.

Given that South Korea is in a generally similar situation to China, there is curiosity about what results China’s five-year reform of harmful wedding customs will yield.