China’s marriage rate and birth rate are closely related, and both continue to decline. The picture shows a newlywed couple posing for photos on the beach in Xiamen, southeastern China’s Fujian Province, on January 11, 2024. (Greg Baker/AFP via Getty Images)
[The Epoch Times, March 17, 2024](Epoch Times reporter Li Yuanming interviewed and reported) China has worshiped matchmakers since ancient times. Matchmakers are a traditional profession, but now they may become pig-killing operators. Recently, CCTV exposed the chaos on the dating platform, and related companies have been investigated one after another. Analysts believe that the CCP’s crackdown on dating websites is related to the birth rate, and is exactly the same as its crackdown on education and training, in order to shift the focus of public conflicts and strengthen control.
“Matchmaker” becomes the master of pig-killing business, marriage and love platform is under rectification
CCTV reporter’s undercover video shows that as a “marriage matchmaker” for many dating companies such as Zhenai.com and Jiayuan, the main content of professional training is speaking skills. The first step is to throw bait and fabricate a “virtual person” that suits the customer’s wishes. “; The second step is to verify the customer information, which is actually to constantly ask the consumer about their economic status. “For members who don’t have money, let them go and let yourself go,” said a training teacher.
Next, let customers regard the marriage and love platform as their only hope, and use pain points such as age anxiety, fertility anxiety, and the feelings of children after divorce to induce consumers to purchase membership services that often cost tens of thousands of yuan. Later, the training teacher will teach the matchmaker how to lie, so that consumers can lower their expectations.
A netizen said, “I understand, it’s the same trick as selling second-hand cars. When you go to see that cheap second-hand car, the seller will say that it happened to have been sold and recommend one to you (perhaps almost the same, of course not at all). ) is just as good.” “Isn’t it just a legally operated pig-killing plate base camp?”
Many netizens also said that they have indeed found a partner through this kind of website. “I have been married for 10 years. At that time, it was quite reliable and there were not so many evil ways.” “Fate is very wonderful, and it doesn’t necessarily come in any way! I want to remind everyone Yes, there are really a lot of scammers!” Some netizens believe that with today’s low marriage and childbearing rate, should the government participate in supervision and certification to increase so-called high-quality marriages, thereby increasing the fertility rate?
In recent years, the number of complaints about dating platforms has remained high. There are many instances of fabricating virtual objects, inducing consumption, and lax information review. However, the Chinese Communist Party officials have not taken any major actions.
After CCTV’s unannounced investigation, on the evening of March 15, Zhenai.com and Jiayuan issued apology statements, stating that the stores involved had suspended all business activities. On March 16, the person in charge of Zhenai.com was interviewed. In the early morning of the 16th, the Shenzhen Municipal Administration for Market Regulation conducted an on-site investigation at the headquarters of Zhenai.com. In February, Shanghai Huaqianshu Information Technology Co., Ltd., an affiliate of Century Jiayuan, was fined 600,000 yuan.
At the same time, the mainland media was hyping up a tragedy related to Jiayuan. “The suicidal programmer and his ex-wife met at Jiayuan” became a hot search on Weibo. In the early morning of September 7, 2017, Su Xiangmao, the founder of the mobile phone application WePhone, jumped to his death from a building and left a suicide note stating that his suicide was related to blackmail from his ex-wife Zhai Xinxin.
Analysis: Censorship of dating websites is related to China’s sharp population decline
Li Yuanhua, a former professor at Capital Normal University, analyzed in an interview with The Epoch Times that the crackdown on dating websites is actually related to the sharp decline in China’s population. It is actually the same basis as the crackdown on education and training back then, and it was also a slap on the head administrative order. In the past, when people couldn’t afford to go to school, the government relied on education and training; now if people don’t get married, they may use the chaos in the marriage market as an excuse.
He said, “Nowadays, people don’t get married, or the cost of getting married is high. This kind of dating website, under the banner of introducing marriage and love, actually pushes up the conditions for marriage and love. The CCP believes that it is not conducive to increasing the number of marriages and births in society. The CCP China’s economy used to focus on demographic dividend, but now it is aging seriously and the birth rate has dropped off a cliff. This is what it is afraid of.”
“Furthermore, violations or counterfeiting are very common in these industries. If they are suddenly rectified at this time, in addition to this population background, it may also give everyone a new focus. Because China’s economy is not doing well, this kind of marriage has become It has become a clear price tag like a free market, which has raised the cost of marriage, so they are panicking and taking action to rectify it. This may be the reason.”
China has entered an aging society with negative population growth. According to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the Communist Party of China, the number of marriages has declined for nine consecutive years since reaching a peak of 13.469 million couples in 2013. The number of marriages fell below 10 million in 2019, 9 million in 2020, 8 million in 2021, and 7 million in 2022. The number of marriage registrations nationwide in 2023 will be 7.68 million couples.
In terms of population, there will be 9.02 million births in 2023, a number that has declined for the seventh consecutive year.
Combating profiteering fraud platforms and rectifying the education and training industry will shift the focus of public conflicts.
Current affairs commentator Tang Jingyuan also believes that the crackdown on dating platforms should mainly be related to the birth rate. Nowadays, young people are lying flat and do not fall in love or get married. The CCP will not think that it is due to its own policies. As a rule, it will target related industries. Just as the CCP emphasizes the safety of ideology, it must rectify the education and training industry, now it emphasizes the safety of population growth, and it must rectify marriage and love platforms.
He said, “The main purpose of the CCP is to use the method of killing chickens to scare monkeys to promote a steady increase in the marriage rate of young people, which can naturally be guaranteed by the birth rate. At the same time, it also aims to divert the public by cracking down on such hugely profitable and fraudulent platforms. The focus of the conflict. But in fact, this is a typical temporary solution and has little effect.”
Century Jiayuan claims to have 220 million registered members. According to public information, Century Jiayuan was founded in Shanghai in 2003 and went public in the United States in 2011, becoming the first online dating platform in China to go public. Baihe.com was founded in Beijing in 2005 and claims to be the first real-name dating platform in China. In November 2015, Baihe.com was listed on the New OTC Market. In December 2015, Baihe.com spent US$250 million (approximately 1.54 billion yuan) to acquire Century Jiayuan, which subsequently delisted from Nasdaq.
In September 2017, the merged Baihe.com and Century Jiayuan were renamed Baihe Jiayuan. In May 2018, a company owned by Fosun founder Guo Guangchang announced that it would acquire nearly 70% of the shares of Baihe.com for a total consideration of 3.998 billion yuan, thereby becoming the controlling shareholder of Baihe Jiayuan.
Tang Jingyuan analyzed that Guo Guangchang has a close relationship with the Shanghai Gang, but with Xi Jinping’s current power position, if he wanted to clean up the Jiang Family Gang, he could have taken action directly. For example, the practice of cutting the hem of the skirt first and starting with the white-glove characters and gradually deepening it is the early stage of anti-corruption. Now if Xi Jinping wants to take action against the Jiang faction, there is no need to be so roundabout. Therefore, the political implications of targeting Guo Guangchang should not be strong.
“The CCP will strengthen its control over such corporate platforms. Strengthening control is the core of the CCP’s series of major changes in recent years,” he said.
Editor in charge: Sun Yun#
2024-03-16 21:53:10
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