The number of new marriages recorded in China is on course to fall to the lowest level in decades this year, official data shows, as the country’s demographic crisis deepens despite a sweeping government campaign to boost matrimony and encourage births. Plummeting marriages – and births – pose a major challenge to Beijing, which is increasingly worried about the impact of a shrinking workforce and aging population on the country’s slowing economy. Some 4.74 million Chinese couples registered their marriages in the first three quarters of 2024, a decrease of 16.6% from the 5.69 million recorded in the same period last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Friday. The decline is consistent with a falling trend from a 2013 peak of more than 13 million new marriages, and in line with predictions by Chinese demographic experts that the number of marriages in 2024 will…
