:00:00. > :00:18.their grasp. New Zealand beat them 20`18. I'll be back at ten. Now on
:00:19. > :00:21.BBC News, it's time for Our World. China, the middle kingdom. It's both
:00:22. > :00:24.the Asian superpower and the world's biggest economy. But this country is
:00:25. > :00:38.running low on a vital commodity. Women. Too many men here. Too few
:00:39. > :00:56.girls. Decades of sex selective abortions have led to a dramatic
:00:57. > :01:00.gender imbalance. If they can tell it is not a boy early enough, they
:01:01. > :01:03.will abort the foetus. And by the end of the the decade, China will
:01:04. > :01:06.have 24 million more males than females. This is a country where it
:01:07. > :01:09.is increasingly unlikely that millions of of bachelors will ever
:01:10. > :01:20.get married. The richest men are hiring professionals to hunt girls
:01:21. > :01:24.down. But how does the average Chinese man go about finding the
:01:25. > :01:25.right one? There is every chance she never even existed in the first
:01:26. > :02:02.place. Love is all around for this couple.
:02:03. > :02:06.And this one. And this one. It might look a bit like the nuptial conveyor
:02:07. > :02:16.belt, but for many young Chinese, a wedding like this is an unattainable
:02:17. > :02:31.dream. Blue Melody Manor Park is a little corner of the South of France
:02:32. > :02:34.in the suburbs of Beijing. After this ceremony, the bride will change
:02:35. > :02:37.out of the white wedding dress into a traditional Chinese one for the
:02:38. > :02:39.banquet. Increasingly, brides and their families expect nothing less
:02:40. > :02:42.than an expensive spectacle like this. China's economic rise has
:02:43. > :02:49.lifted millions out of poverty, but the the boom has also put marriage
:02:50. > :03:03.beyond some men's reach. In the old days, everybody expected to get
:03:04. > :03:06.hitched. China, where, in the interests of the economy, weddings
:03:07. > :03:10.take place en masse. The brides wear inexpensive gowns of a simple
:03:11. > :03:21.material. And later, in the early days of the People's Republic,
:03:22. > :03:33.weddings were also modest. As were the groom's presents. Brides require
:03:34. > :03:37.the three rounds, a watch, a sewing machine and a bicycle. Then it was a
:03:38. > :03:49.fridge, TV and and a washing machine. Now, a car, salary and real
:03:50. > :03:51.estate. What about love? Not a priority if you listen to the
:03:52. > :03:54.marriage expert at the state`sponsored China Women's
:03:55. > :04:00.Federation. And parents certainly do get involved. Pairing people off was
:04:01. > :04:12.once the work of traditional matchmakers, but now mums and dads
:04:13. > :04:15.are playing Cupid. This might look like a protest by families of young
:04:16. > :04:18.people disappeared in a political crackdown, but the problem here
:04:19. > :04:26.isn't that the children are missing. It is that they are still around.
:04:27. > :04:29.Every weekend, parks like this one fill with anxious parents hawking
:04:30. > :04:32.their children's nuptial CVs. Many look embarrassed and some are here
:04:33. > :04:41.without their children's knowledge. But not this lady. Why do you think
:04:42. > :04:54.your son is having trouble finding a wife? On top of that, they come from
:04:55. > :04:57.distant provinces and have no official right to live in the
:04:58. > :05:01.capital. This woman's son, a young engineer, is willing to talk. Why do
:05:02. > :05:03.you think it is difficult to find a woman to marry? You are good`looking
:05:04. > :05:28.and and have a good job. But no place to live is just one of
:05:29. > :05:36.many problems for would`be grooms. Another is quite simply a critical
:05:37. > :05:38.shortage of women. Author and journalist Mara Hvistendahl has been
:05:39. > :05:46.tracking this demographic time bomb for several years. Today we are
:05:47. > :05:49.looking at tens of millions of surplus men, men who do not have a
:05:50. > :05:55.female counterpart in the population. Sex selection is a
:05:56. > :05:58.problem that has been going on for decades, so at this point, many
:05:59. > :06:03.areas of China have been touched by it. In the late '70s, the Chinese
:06:04. > :06:28.government introduced the so`called one child policy, designed to curb
:06:29. > :06:32.population growth. But it backfired. If a family really want to have a
:06:33. > :06:35.boy, then they start to select. We call it prenatal sex selection. They
:06:36. > :06:40.try to get pregnant with a boy, make sure the newborn is a boy. If it's
:06:41. > :06:43.not a boy? If they can tell it's not a boy and it's early enough, they
:06:44. > :06:46.will abort the foetus. This is a very general practice. In Chinese
:06:47. > :06:51.culture, male children have always been more prized. In extreme cases,
:06:52. > :07:02.especially in the villages, female infanticide was also practised. Some
:07:03. > :07:16.people say by the end of this decade there will be 24 million. Up to 30
:07:17. > :07:19.million. What is clear is that there will be a serious problem with a lot
:07:20. > :07:22.of leftover men. Nowhere more so than in the countryside. This is a
:07:23. > :07:28.village near the border with Vietnam. It is a world away from
:07:29. > :07:36.China's crowded megacities. Most Chinese men face a double burden
:07:37. > :07:39.when they want to get married. The rising financial problems and the
:07:40. > :07:44.shortage of women. But they have it easy compared to farmers in the
:07:45. > :07:55.poorest part of the country. In this village, there are 60 bachelors.
:07:56. > :08:09.Some have given up all hope of getting married. These men are both
:08:10. > :08:12.unmarried. Across China, there are more and more villages like theirs.
:08:13. > :08:15.They They call these men bare branches, because because they can't
:08:16. > :08:23.continue the family tree. Today they are picking dragon fruit. Here, on
:08:24. > :08:25.top of poverty, and the nationwide problem of gender imbalance, men are
:08:26. > :08:27.confronted with a regional problem. Mass migration.
:08:28. > :08:41.problem of gender imbalance, men are confronted with
:08:42. > :08:48.Marriage is traditionally the symbol of maturity in China. Unmarried men
:08:49. > :08:51.are treated like boys who have yet to come of age, no matter how old
:08:52. > :09:17.they actually are. The pressure on his friend and
:09:18. > :09:26.fellow bachelor is even more intense. His family spent years of
:09:27. > :09:30.their hard earned savings on this huge new house in the modern part of
:09:31. > :09:33.the the village for him to move into with his wife. There is not much
:09:34. > :09:39.left over for furniture, but that hardly matters, because there is no
:09:40. > :10:27.wife and no children. This is a family home with no family.
:10:28. > :10:59.How badly would you like to have children? Is that important for you?
:11:00. > :11:21.He's going home to help with the harvest. But usually, these lads
:11:22. > :11:24.help construct in big skyscrapers in the cities.
:11:25. > :11:27.help construct in big skyscrapers It's hard, sweaty and dangerous on
:11:28. > :11:31.Chinese building sites and they are hardly likely to catch the eye of a
:11:32. > :11:43.girl and they are working 20 storeys in the air.
:11:44. > :11:48.In the past decade, 300 million people have poured into the cities
:11:49. > :11:57.to look for work. And for love. But that can prove elusive. How do you
:11:58. > :12:12.find yourself a soul mate in a city the size of this one? This is your
:12:13. > :12:27.headquarters? Yes. Gong Haiyan was a student from a remote village. She
:12:28. > :12:34.moved to Shangha and got into a university. But she had no love
:12:35. > :12:43.life. She joined a dating site. When she got replies, she asked for money
:12:44. > :12:48.back. `` got no replies. Her website is called Beautiful Destiny. It's
:12:49. > :12:53.proved a hit. She is now known as China's top matchmaker. These
:12:54. > :12:56.numbers keep increasing. Her site has almost 100 million users, and
:12:57. > :13:03.she is now personally worth $45 million. And she found herself a
:13:04. > :13:14.husband too, although she made him take an IQ test before their first
:13:15. > :13:17.date. Here are the three most important things we need to know
:13:18. > :13:24.about about you, height, education and salary. How tall are you? About
:13:25. > :13:27.170, I think. Matchmaking in China has an illustrious 2000`year`old
:13:28. > :13:35.history, and in the old days, it might be limited to a handful of
:13:36. > :13:46.families. Now that the old networks are breaking down, how on earth you
:13:47. > :13:50.even begin the search? One of the employees here is helping me upload
:13:51. > :13:53.my my profile. What does this box do? Self`description. I should say
:13:54. > :13:57.that I'm adventurous and get bored quite easily. I need a man who is
:13:58. > :14:12.organised. I quite like the idea of a romantic man, too. Next up,
:14:13. > :14:15.describing the shape of your face. There are options. Round,
:14:16. > :14:26.rectangular, long, or sunflower seed. Like a sunflower seed? Yes. Or
:14:27. > :14:31.egg`shaped. Egg`shaped. Triangle. Triangle`shaped? What do you think I
:14:32. > :14:35.am? Egg`shaped. Egg`shaped. OK, let's go with that. Sadly, the
:14:36. > :14:36.prospects for ladies like me with egg`shaped faces were not quite what
:14:37. > :14:55.I had hoped for. Time to go offline. This speed`dating event is in an
:14:56. > :15:04.industrial city in the Pearl River Delta, the workshop of the world,
:15:05. > :15:06.where money reigns supreme. A mass`produced mercantile approach
:15:07. > :15:15.seems to have infected the mating game, too.
:15:16. > :15:20.These are the rules. If the girl accepts the red rose, the man is
:15:21. > :15:31.allowed to sit down and talk to her. The first thing people do when they
:15:32. > :15:35.come to this match`making event is post their profile on the wall. You
:15:36. > :15:37.can see their candidate number, their age, their height, which is
:15:38. > :15:46.absolutely crucial in China, and their education. This guy has been
:15:47. > :15:50.to a university. He's a CEO. This man next to him is a high school
:15:51. > :15:54.leaver. They also have room for a personal statement. This guy, an
:15:55. > :16:01.engineer, says, "I want to hold your hand". This guy says, "I want to
:16:02. > :16:04.find the right umbrella. If I cannot find it, I'd rather stay in the rain
:16:05. > :16:06.forever". Unfortunately, in China these days, quite a few men may stay
:16:07. > :16:22.damp for some time to come. This man is a case in point. It's
:16:23. > :17:12.the third time he has been to this event.
:17:13. > :17:17.The women are not easily pleased and even this investment banker from
:17:18. > :17:29.Taiwan says he is finding it tough going. I find too many men here. Too
:17:30. > :17:36.many men? Too few girls. I have seen some very beautiful girls. That is
:17:37. > :17:41.probably your view, not mine. Are you quite fussy? I'm not fussy.
:17:42. > :17:45.Trust me, my last girlfriend was a dog. Oh, dear. And we were getting
:17:46. > :18:00.on so well. But it is all a bit humiliating and
:18:01. > :18:05.time`consuming. That is why China's wealthiest bachelors contract out
:18:06. > :18:19.the search for a spouse. They employ a love hunter. THEME FROM JAWS
:18:20. > :18:25.PLAYS. We are going shopping but not for clothes. For girls. Such is the
:18:26. > :18:32.working day for the employees of Shanghai's Diamond Bachelors Agency.
:18:33. > :18:38.Show me the sort of girl you're looking for. Maybe that yellow one
:18:39. > :19:00.is OK. That girl in the little shorts?
:19:01. > :19:08.If Peng Tai finds his richest clients a Miss Right, he could earn
:19:09. > :19:20.tens of thousands of dollars. But as his boss explains these billionaires
:19:21. > :19:21.are picky. One sent love hunters to nine separate cities to trawl
:19:22. > :19:40.through 10,000 girls. Let's say the love hunters have
:19:41. > :19:46.found a billionaire a promising candidate. She might look the part
:19:47. > :19:53.but can she really cut it as a member of China's new moneyed elite?
:19:54. > :19:58.How does Miss Good Enough become Mrs Right? One solution is to study
:19:59. > :20:04.here, the Happy College of the Good Wife.
:20:05. > :20:08.Today, these aspiring trophy wives are role`playing. How to spread your
:20:09. > :20:38.love diplomatically between your baby and your husband.
:20:39. > :20:44.Love hunters, speed`daters, good wives colleges. It might seem a bit
:20:45. > :20:51.wacky but this is no laughing matter. China is moving forwards at
:20:52. > :20:53.an astonishing rate but no amount of material development can compensate
:20:54. > :21:02.for the shortage of young women in this country.
:21:03. > :21:45.It's already causing trouble and there will be more to come.
:21:46. > :21:53.These days, it's really hard to find a girl in China. So that causes more
:21:54. > :22:02.social problems because with a lot of bachelors... A lot of single
:22:03. > :22:07.men... There are social problems like rape or sexual harassment
:22:08. > :22:11.everywhere. Really? And you think that's because of the number of men
:22:12. > :22:23.compared to women? I think so. I think so. The shortage is leading
:22:24. > :22:25.some to take desperate measures. I heard that some men in bachelor
:22:26. > :22:28.villagers went to other provinces or even to Vietnam to find a wife. Have
:22:29. > :22:57.you thought about that? Why not? And there are more problems around
:22:58. > :23:03.the corner. In China, state and private pensions are nonexistent for
:23:04. > :23:05.most people. Instead, children are expected to look after their parents
:23:06. > :23:19.when they get old. But who will care for China's tens
:23:20. > :23:26.of millions of leftover men in their dotage?
:23:27. > :23:30.There's discussions and there's research but, actually, I think that
:23:31. > :23:41.this is something we have never encountered before. We do not know
:23:42. > :23:44.what will happen. When they get old, I think that the society, the
:23:45. > :23:48.community, needs to think about how to take care of them because they
:23:49. > :23:54.don't have family to take care of them, they do not have children. Of
:23:55. > :24:12.course, for the moneyed classes, this is less of an issue.
:24:13. > :24:17.Back on the streets of Shanghai, love hunter Peng Tai is closing in
:24:18. > :24:31.for the kill. THEME FROM JAWS PLAYS.
:24:32. > :24:36.In a penthouse somewhere above the city, a millionaire or billionaire
:24:37. > :24:52.will get the chance to peruse the fruits of Peng's labours.
:24:53. > :25:02.At one extreme of this divided and increasingly unequal society, men
:25:03. > :25:04.can pick and choose their mates. At the other end, back in the bachelor
:25:05. > :25:14.villages, there is no choice at all. Modern China is a ruthlessly
:25:15. > :25:24.competitive place and many men are alone. But some are more alone than
:25:25. > :25:27.others. If marriage is a building block of social stability, will the
:25:28. > :25:34.shortage of brides undermine this country's future?