Low birth rates of women in China may be to blame for some 24 million men failing to find a spouse in 2020, according to a report of the Chinese Academy of Social Science (CASS), cited by china.com.cn.

More inter-generational marriages with wives being older than their husbands' families will emerge due to a large proportion of men born since the 1980s.

"People's minds have changed a lot during recent twenty years. Young couples don't want to have a second child, or just live a DINK life," said Yan Hua, sociology PHD of CASS.

Some people's preference of wanting a boy to continue the family line also leads to the abortion of girls in rural China, the report said.