China women prefer to date men who earn double, triple their pay: Survey

A newlywed couple kisses during wedding ceremony in traditional Han Dynasty style in Ganzhou, Jiangxi province, on China's Valentine's day, on May 20, 2017. PHOTO: REUTERS

Women in China prefer to date men who earn twice or thrice as much as themselves, a new survey by a Chinese dating website has revealed.

The study, released by Zhenai.com, pulled the data from 6,289 profiles from its 100 million users before China's Valentine's Day, which was on May 20.

Of those polled, 54.08 per cent of women felt men should earn twice that of them, compared with 36.36 per cent of men who felt the same way, Sina.com said in a report.

Those who felt men should earn thrice that of women made up 30 per cent of the women polled, and just 11.62 per cent of men polled.

An overwhelming 52.02 per cent of men, however, felt both men and women should have about the same pay in a relationship. Only 15.2 per cent of women felt this way.

More than half of those who had their feelings rejected by a potential partner chose to give up straightaway, said the survey.

Another 31.86 per cent said they would keep the wooing up for another month, while just 17.05 per cent said they would continue chasing for more than six months.

The study also found that most men in cities found economic pressure a big factor when it came to love and marriage.

Most - or 72.64 per cent - felt it was reasonable to spend 1,000 yuan (S$202) to 2,000 yuan on dating expenses per month.

The findings reflect the gender imbalance in the country, where there were some 33.6 million more men than women last year, the South China Morning Post reported on Tuesday (May 23), quoting the National Bureau of Statistics.

This contributed to the high performance on the "clinginess" index by the men surveyed, SCMP said.

More than 40 per cent of men want to see their partners daily, whereas just 23 per cent of women feel the same way.

Marriage was also a top priority, with more than 60 per cent of respondents saying they would end the relationship if they did not marry after three years of dating.

According to a 2015 report by the All-China Women's Federation, the average marriage age in China was 26.

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