The Qingyang government introduced a regulation against exorbitant betrothal gifts and extravagant wedding ceremonies last year One reason for the soaring bride price is the imbalanced sex ratio in China. For every 100 newborn girls, there were 115 boys born across the country last year, and in rural areas, where only boys are regarded as the heirs to carry on the family line, the ratio between men and women of marriageable age is even higher in some places it is close to 2: 1. The imbalance makes the competition for a wife fierce among rural bachelors The migration of rural populations to cities is also blamed for the rising cost of rural weddings As Chinas urbanisation has gathered pace since the opening-upand reform policy was introduced in the late Seventies, more and more rural people have migrated to cities seeking better pay and an improved life. As a result, the number of women of marriageable age in rural areas is in decline and thereare not enough partners for rural young men, said Zhang Yi, a researcher at the Chinese academy of Social Sciences The situation is worse in impoverished areas such as Qingyang. Since women are reluctant to marry into families from poor villages, the grooms families have to pay a higher price for betrothal gifts, which means men from the poorest families are least likely to marry, said Zhang To keep a rein on soaring costs, the Qingyang government introduced a regulation against exorbitant betrothal gifts and extravagant wedding ceremonies last year, but the move proved a failure. The effect of the rule cannot reach our village because thetradition is too deep rooted, said Mr Hu To help bachelors find partners, local governments should developtheir economies and improve the income ofresidents In the marriage market, men from poor families are in disadvantageous positions and have a weaker ability to bargain with womens families, said He Xuefeng, rural government researcher at Huazhong University of Science and Technology To woo a potential spouse, men from poor families have to pay a higher price fo betrothal gifts, which raises the cost of the marriage market, and other families have no choice but to follow suit. Thus a vicious circle is formed, said Xuefeng The rising cost of marriage in rural areas has also led to other social problems Li Yanlin is a villager in Leping, east China's Jiangxi province. He bought a Vietnamese bride for his son for 45,000 yuan(E5, 000) last year. However hisThe Qingyang government introduced a regulation against exorbitant betrothal gifts and extravagant wedding ceremonies last year. One reason for the soaring bride price is the imbalanced sex ratio in China. For every 100 newborn girls, there were 115 boys born across the country last year, and in rural areas, where only boys are regarded as the heirs to carry on the family line, the ratio between men and women of marriageable age is even higher – in some places it is close to 2:1. The imbalance makes the competition for a wife fierce among rural bachelors. The migration of rural populations to cities is also blamed for the rising cost of rural weddings. As China’s urbanisation has gathered pace since the opening-up and reform policy was introduced in the late Seventies, more and more rural people have migrated to cities seeking better pay and an improved life. As a result, the number of women of marriageable age in rural areas is in decline and there are not enough partners for rural young men, said Zhang Yi, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. The situation is worse in impoverished areas such as Qingyang. Since women are reluctant to marry into families from poor villages, the groom’s families have to pay a higher price for betrothal gifts, which means men from the poorest families are least likely to marry, said Zhang To keep a rein on soaring costs, the Qingyang government introduced a regulation against exorbitant betrothal gifts and extravagant wedding ceremonies last year, but the move proved a failure. “The effect of the rule cannot reach our village because the tradition is too deep￾rooted,” said Mr Hu. To help bachelors find partners, local governments should develop their economies and improve the income of residents “In the marriage market, men from poor families are in disadvantageous positions and have a weaker ability to bargain with women's families,” said He Xuefeng, rural government researcher at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. “To woo a potential spouse, men from poor families have to pay a higher price for betrothal gifts, which raises the cost of the marriage market, and other families have no choice but to follow suit. Thus a vicious circle is formed,” said Xuefeng. The rising cost of marriage in rural areas has also led to other social problems. Li Yanlin is a villager in Leping, east China's Jiangxi province. He bought a Vietnamese bride for his son for 45,000 yuan (£5,000) last year. However, his