China's National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that there were 34 million more men than women by the end of 2015, worrying many about the possible imbalance in the number of marriages in the future. 

Out of the mainland's 1.4 billion population, 704 million are men, while only 670 million are women. 

Like Us on Facebook

The 12th Five Years Plan for National Population Development aimed to lower the sex ratio at birth to 115 or below from 2011 to 2015 and succeeded. The country's Statistics Agency revealed that there are only 110 girls for every 113.51 boys born. 

This is way above the normal rate of 102 to 107 boys for every 100 girls. 

2015 saw a 2.37 percent decline from 2014's 115.88 ratio last year, reportedly the biggest plunge in the last seven years.

Affected aspects

"The most noticeable impact is a marriage squeeze. Leftover men will find it more difficult to marry women," said Chen Jian, vice president of China Society of Economic Reform. 

However, the recent reform on the decades-old family planning policy is expected to slowly bridge the gender gap. In October last year, the government allowed all Chinese couples to have two children. 

The world-renowned one-child policy has been updated twice after its legislation. In 2002, couples were allowed to have two children if both of them are from single children families. In 2013, the law was relaxed more as couples are allowed two children even if only one of them is a single child.

The gender gap, if not narrowed down in the following years, will threaten the population ecology as well as sustainable and economic social development, Chen added. 

Yi Fuxian, a researcher on demographic policy from the University of Wisconsin, said that the financial industry will also suffer. 

"The left-over men will drag down businesses like credit card, loan, insurance as well as the credit system," he said. 

The labor market will also see more gender imbalance. 

"Surplus male labor will intensify the competition in the labor job market and increase the difficulty for women to get a job," said Li Jianxin, professor at Peking University's Department of Sociology.

"When they reach working age, the dependency ratio of the population will go down while the potential economic growth rate will go up by about 0.5 percent. Some 30 million individuals are expected to enter the workforce by 2050," said Wang Peian, deputy head of the National Health and Family Planning Commission.

TagsChina gender gap, china population, One Child Policy, two-child policy