GUANGZHOU: The number of Hong Kong women marrying men from the
mainland has increased steadily in recent years, amid an overall
decline in mainland-Hong Kong marriages.
More than 34,500 permanent residents of Hong Kong married
mainlanders in 2006, accounting for about half of all marriages
involving Hongkongers during the period.
Some 6,500 of those unions involved Hong Kong women tying the
knot with mainlanders, up from less than 2,000 in 1996, and
accounting for 19 percent of all Hong Kong-mainland marriages that
year.
An official with the Guangdong provincial bureau of civil
affairs said the trend is likely to continue as the gap between
living standards in the two regions shrinks.
The increasing links between Hong Kong and the mainland will
also make it easier for people from the two sides to interact, the
official said.
Meanwhile, many mainland women, particularly those with
white-collar jobs, are choosing not to look for husbands in Hong
Kong because they do not want to live apart while they await their
residency rights.
Hong Kong's high-pressure housing market has also become a
disincentive for potential husband-seekers.
As a result, the number of Hong Kong-mainland marriages has been
decreasing at an annual rate of about 10 percent in recent
years.
Some 2,600 residents of Guangdong Province, which borders Hong
Kong and Macao, married Hongkongers last year, down 15 percent from
the year before.
During the 1980s, it was common to see 15,000 weddings between
Hongkongers and residents of Guangdong in a single year. The
situation started changing in the late 1990s.
Traditionally, women account for a large majority - about 80
percent - of the mainlanders who marry residents of Hong Kong and
Macao, sources with the civil affairs bureau said.
Some Guangdong residents still marry in the hope of securing
permanent resident status in Hong Kong or Macao, especially as
emigration procedures have been simplified in recent years.
Chen Shanhong, a white-collar worker in Guangzhou, said that
Hong Kong is no longer a prime destination for women from the
mainland, particularly those who have studied abroad.
"I would prefer living in Guangzhou, Shanghai or one of the
other mainland metropolises now that there are more opportunities
for talented people," Chen said.
The 28-year-old predicted the number of mainland women who marry
Hong Kong residents will continue to shrink in the coming
years.
(China Daily January 2, 2008)