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Sub-anchor: New findings on dating culture

CCTV.com

08-12-2016 05:24 BJT

One of the country’s most popular websites, Tencent.com, has surveyed around 50,000 people about their views on dating and marriage. How much have these changed from the days of old. Let me bring in my colleague Zhao Lingfeng for more.

Q1. So how is the dating scene in China these days?

Let’s start with what really concerns China's youth when they're looking for a date. More than half of the respondents checked sincerity as the most important attribute before getting into a relationship. So if you want to have a shot at love, be genuine. About 20 percent want to feel they have things in common with their partner.
Only about eight percent feel appearances are the major factor. Another talking point is that more than three-quarters of the respondents said they moved in with their partner before marriage. It suggests more are seeing living together as a necessary way to get to know their potential life-partner.

Here's another high rate. 72 percent of those polled, who have been in a long-distance relationship, found that it didn't work for them, while one in five ended up eventually tying the knot. In China, meeting the in-laws for the first time is seen as a big challenge for most couples and many worry that they won't see eye-to-eye with their future parents-in-law. For those who are still single, more than half are happy to keep waiting for the "right one". Meanwhile about one in five men are concerned they won't be able to afford a loving relationship.
 
Q2. So premarital cohabitation is now a mainstream thing. What else can you tell us about marriage?

One of the key take-aways from the survey is how Chinese people value their independence, even in marriage. About three in ten are keen to have some personal time after tying the knot. They put a lot of stock in how stable and secure their relationship has been before getting married. They also look at their finances, such as their employment status, and if they own property or a car.

However, remarkably, about 70 percent of the married couples surveyed revealed that they often or sometimes feel regret about their decision to get married. That rate is actually higher among women. The poll also found that married couples seemed to be happier in marriage if they were financially stable or if they had dated for a significant period of time before marriage.

And for millennials, more than half hold the traditional view that a life cannot be complete without marriage. But an increasing number also think you can be happy as a single person, especially among those who were born after the year 2000, actually one in three says it's possible to be happy as a single.

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