Top Chinese official warns high cost of marrying off sons is driving rural families into poverty
- Rural affairs vice-minister Han Jun hits out at lavish bride prices that can easily pass US$14,500 but roots of problem may lay in skewed gender ratio
A senior Chinese government official has condemned the practice of exorbitant bride prices, which he blamed for plunging many rural families into poverty.
Han Jun, vice-minister of agriculture and rural affairs, also said on Monday that lavish spending at weddings and funerals needed to be curbed and warned that in some areas farming families were engaging in a form of competitive one-upmanship, according to Shanghai-based news site Thepaper.cn.
But rural people and demographers pointed out that the demographic and social pressures fuelling the practice were deep-seated, especially the notorious imbalance in the country’s gender ratio.
Traditionally the family of the groom in China is expected to give betrothal gifts to the bride’s parents. But Han said that these days some families were spending more than 100,000 yuan (US$14,500) on the celebrations, compared with 10,000 yuan in the 1990s and just 200 yuan in the 70s and 80s.
“Our on-site inspections in villages often find that some families become poor when their sons get married. This is not uncommon in some regions,” Han said.
