A future generation of some 20-40 million unmarried Chinese men will lead to a boom in companion and hobby industries like pets and pop idol worship, says a national securities company.
China's prolonged gender disparity will result in an increased consumer demand for pet ownership, variety and reality entertainment shows, anime and manga, and video games by a rising demographic of adults with money to spend, but no family to spend it on.
And, according to the report by Dongxing Securities, the future of China will resemble Japan at the present.
Quoting specific examples, Dongxing says China will see a future demand for "one-person" restaurants like Japanese noodle franchise Ichiran as well as a proliferation in pop idol groups such as Japanese pop idol sensation SNH48. Additionally, this wifeless demographic who can't cook or clean is expected to create a huge demand for convenience stores and housekeeping services while showing a preference for rental properties instead of buying homes.
While this looks to be a boon for industries devoted to servicing otakus ("obsessive fans"), statistics reveal a number of alarming trends that won't be pacified through dogs or cartoons.
China's preference for boys has created a scarcity for girls that has allowed them to set high demands on China's "marriage market". According to the China Statistical Yearbook 2017, Beijing led the country in 2016 by having the highest average betrothal gifts, valued at RMB 200,000 a price that some Beijing men are already refusing to pay.
READ: Cost of Marrying One of China's Outnumbered Women Continues to Skyrocket
But the value of China's women doesn't just come from their rarity. The high salaries and education of China's "leftover women" in the cities have raised them out of reach of its rural men for whom "financial constraints" is described as their top reason for not getting married, a marriage dilemma summarized by Caixin as "Men are poor, women are strong". If that isn't enough, over half of Chinese women simply expect their husbands to earn twice as much as they do.
However, even if they are capable of finding a suitable marriage partner and meeting their price, a long-lasting marriage isn't in the cards for some Chinese adults. Divorces have been increasing in China for the 14th year in a row with Beijing leading the country's divorce rate at 39 percent.
Provided that millions of Chinese bachelors can attain satisfaction through consumer products (given that lack of money was the reason they couldn't get married in the first place), marriage still remains an important requirement for Chinese adults. Numerous Chinese families arrange potential marriage partners to meet with their children in a popular practice called xiangqin while singlehood is viewed as a societal taboo.
To make things worse, China's massive gender disparity isn't the country's only worrying demographic trend. After having implemented the "one-child policy" in the 70s, China's oncoming surge of seniors signifies a drop in its labor force for whom 50-year-old retirement policies have yet to be reformed.
Forecasts predict between 20 to 40 million men in China will not be able to find a wife by 2025. China's current number of unmarried adults is estimated at 240 million people.
The investor report suggests for China to relax immigration policies to make overseas marriage easier for its citizens but, sadly, for tens of millions of Chinese men, it means that the girl-next-door is already out of reach.
More stories from this author here.
Twitter: @Sinopath
E-mail: charlesliu1@qq.com
Photo: Crunchyroll (2)