China’s ‘leftover’ men are ‘purchasing’ foreign brides to marry. What’s going on?

Unable to find domestic spouses, some of the 'leftover' men in China are resorting to marrying brides trafficked from outside the country, primarily from neighbouring countries in Southeast Asia. This comes as the country struggles to cope with a skewed gender ratio and a record-low rate of marriages read more Ming Gao, Lund University China's marriage rate is in steep decline. There were 6.1 million marriage registrations nationwide in 2024, down from 7.7 million the previous year. This decline has prompted Chen Songxi, a Chinese national political adviser, to propose lowering the legal marriage age from 22 to 18. The…