China’s ‘leftover men’ drive sick trend

It’s the inevitable outcome of decades of the Communist Party’s strictly enforced one-child policy.

Parents wanted to ensure they’d be financially secure in their old age. So they wanted sons.

The result?

By the early 2000s, there were 121 boys for every 100 girls.

Now, there’s a wife drought. And desperate and dateless Chinese men are turning to mail-order brides.

A ready-to-go spouse can be delivered to their door for an outlay of $A5000 to $A20,000.

“The growing demand for these brides, particularly in rural areas, has fuelled a rise in illegal marriages,” writes Lund University researcher Dr Ming Gao.

“This includes marriages involving children and women who have been trafficked into China primarily from neighbouring countries in South-East Asia.”

Marriages in China fell by 20 per cent last year – the most significant drop on record.

And it’s creating an era dubbed by Chinese social media users as shengnan shidai – “the time of leftover men”.

Between 2020 and 2050, some 30 t...
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