Name: China hopes picture-perfect wedding spots will halt falling births
Uploaded: 2025-11-07T09:14:00.614Z
Duration: 2 min 22 s
Description: China is making it easier for couples to marry anywhere in the country, from temples to subway stations, in a bid to reverse its falling birth rate. The policy has sparked a wave of “marriage tourism,” but experts say deeper social issues may still hinder a baby boom.

China is making it easier for couples to marry anywhere in the country, from temples to subway stations, in a bid to reverse its falling birth rate. The policy has sparked a wave of “marriage tourism,” but experts say deeper social issues may still hinder a baby boom.

Beijing

China has implemented measures to increase marriage rates as part of efforts to address a demographic crisis. Authorities now allow couples to register marriages anywhere in the country, and local governments have set up registration offices at scenic locations and subway stations to attract marriage tourists.

These initiatives have led to a 22.5 percent increase in marriages in the third quarter of 2025 compared to the previous year, potentially reversing a decade-long decline. However, experts caution that while the changes make marriage more convenient, they may not result in a sustained increase in marriage or birth rates due to ongoing economic uncertainties and complex attitudes among young adults.

China hopes picture-perfect wedding spots will halt falling births

China is taking steps to boost marriage numbers as the country grapples with a demographic crisis. In May, authorities started allowing couples to get married anywhere in the country, not just their place of residence. That was to attract young couples to tie the knot by making the process more convenient and the event more special. Since then, local governments have been scrambling to cater to marriage tourists, setting up registration offices around scenic spots and even subway stations. In the capital Beijing, 20 couples turned up at the Huguo Guanyin Temple last Tuesday to get married. Among them were Wang Jieyi and Zhang Yongchang, who work in Beijing, but are originally from Shandong province. I think it's not exactly that this policy has fast-tracked our plans to get married or made us decide to get married. It has rather made the process of getting married much more convenient. There's no need to go back and forth between the two places, we can register and get everything else done here at the local office. It's really, really convenient as it simplifies the process of obtaining the necessary documents for a marriage registration and other things we need to do, so it does provide a lot of benefits. For now, the government's efforts seem to be working. Marriages which demographers use as a proxy for the country's birth rate rose 22.5 percent from a year earlier, the third quarter of 2025. That puts China on track to halt a downward trend in annual nuptials, which has gone almost uninterrupted for more than a decade. But demographer and University of Michigan assistant professor Yang Zhou says this effort might not lead to a sustained turnaround. The removal of geographic restrictions indeed make getting married easier, but that is impacting people who are already in the process of wanting to get married or in the process of planning weddings. So the change in policy about removing geographic restriction alone will be unlikely to lead to any sustained rebound or change or uptick. And among young Chinese adults, there are complex feelings about marriage and childbearing transitions, in part driven by senses of economic uncertainties and financial stress.

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