China's dwindling population

 

China’s marriages fell 7.5% in the first half of 2026. What does it spell for the economy?

Fewer weddings, rising divorces and plunging birth rates risk exacerbating the fallout from a rapidly ageing population

Sherry Wangin Beijing, South China Morning Post

Published: 3:00pm, 13 Aug 2026Updated: 6:46pm, 13 Aug 2026

China’s marriage registrations fell 7.5 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026, underscoring the demographic challenges authorities face as they step up efforts to encourage nuptials and childbearing.

Nearly 3.28 million couples in China tied the knot between January and June, down 264,000 from the same period last year, according to data released by the Ministry of Civil Affairs on Wednesday.

Divorce registrations also rose 3.9 per cent to 1.38 million.

Marriage registrations are closely watched in China as they typically serve as a strong indicator of birth trends in the following year, with extramarital births still considered taboo in many parts of the country.

Last year, births fell to a record low of 7.92 million, down by about 10 million from the 2016 peak, as the country’s population declined for a fourth consecutive year.

In that time, India has taken over as the most populated country in the world. India is approaching 1.5 billion people while China's population is dropping toward 1.4 billion. The next most populated country is the USA with one quarter of China's population.

The nation’s shrinking and rapidly ageing population risks complicating Beijing’s efforts to sustain economic growth. Economists and demographers warn that a smaller workforce and fewer workers supporting retirees could weigh on productivity, raise pension and healthcare costs and prolong weakness in domestic demand.

Since last year, local governments have rolled out a range of policies to encourage marriage and reduce the financial burden of raising children, including extended marriage leave, cash rewards, consumption vouchers and fewer restrictions on where couples can tie the knot.

Those efforts helped drive an increase in marriage registrations to 6.76 million last year, but the latest decline suggests that rebound could be hard to sustain.

On Wednesday, demographer He Yafu wrote in an article published on social media that total marriage registrations in 2026 could fall to between 5.97 million and 6.37 million, and called for further policy support to curb demographic decline.

In an article published on Thursday, Chinese economist Ren Zeping attributed the persistent decline in marriages to high wedding and child-rearing costs, shifting mindsets among younger generations who view marriage as a constraint, improved pension and social security networks, and alternative emotional outlets like gaming and pets.

To counter the trend, Ren urged Beijing to lower housing, education and healthcare burdens, safeguard female employment rights and curb gaming addiction, describing children as “the new infrastructure” vital for China’s future.

Local authorities continue to provide financial incentives for childbirth and marriage. In July, a village in Foshan, South China’s Guangdong province, passed a measure offering newlyweds a 2,500 yuan (US$370) bonus, 3,000 yuan per newborn and preschool tuition subsidies, according to a village statement.

Similarly, Mingxi county in the eastern province of Fujian began offering a one-off 3,000 yuan cash reward to eligible newlyweds last month, along with birth subsidies ranging from 2,000 to 5,000 yuan per child, according to a local broadcaster.

Norway Princess to marry California 6th generation shaman

 

Norway’s Princess Martha Louise to wed U.S. shaman amid years of controversy

By Jan M. Olsen and Stefanie Dazio  The Associated Press

Posted August 30, 2024 11:47 am

 Updated August 30, 2024 11:48 am

 4 min read

View image in full screen

Norway's Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verret arrive at the boats that will transport them to Geiranger for their wedding celebration on Saturday. Heiko Junge/NTB via APThe Norwegian king’s eldest child, Princess Märtha Louise, will marry American self-professed shaman Durek Verret on Saturday in a picturesque corner of southern Norway.

The wedding comes amid widespread criticism of the couple’s actions and waning support for the Scandinavian royals, who have been plagued by negative reports about an unruly family member who faces preliminary domestic violence charges.

Märtha Louise, 52, and Verret, who claims to be a sixth-generation shaman from California, have attracted headlines with their alternative beliefs. She is fourth in line to the Norwegian throne but said in 2022 that she’ll no longer officially represent the Norwegian royal house in order to work closer with her American fiancé.

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Norway’s Princess Martha Louise and her fiance Durek Verrett arrive at the government’s party event in connection with Princess Ingrid Alexandra’s 18th birthday, which is held at Deichman Bjoervika, Oslo’s main library, Thursday June 16, 2022. Hakon Mosvold Larsen/NTB via AP

The princess — she has retained the title — has said she can talk with angels, while Verret, 49, claims that he communicates with a broad range of spirits and has a medallion which helps ward off spells and cure diseases.

They became engaged in 2022. Once married, Verret will not have royal titles or official duties.

In a 2019 deal, Märtha Louise and Verret agreed not to use her connection to the royal house or her title for commercial purposes.

But earlier this year Märtha Louise labeled bottles of gin with her title and launched the brand in time for the wedding, defying King Harald V’s directive that she should not profit from her royal status. The label was eventually changed.

The couple also sold their wedding photo rights to a British celebrity magazine and the film rights to Netflix. The deals prompted protests from Norwegian media, which says it goes against local practices. The couple has often lashed out against the press while promoting themselves on social media.

Meanwhile Marius Borg Høiby, the eldest son of Norway’s Crown Princess Mette-Marit and Crown Prince Haakon’s stepson, is suspected of causing bodily harm and criminal damage. He has confessed that he was intoxicated and was taking cocaine when he was briefly arrested Aug. 6 in Oslo. Borg Høiby, who is the son of Mette-Marit from a previous relationship, has no royal titles or official duties.

Haakon has called it “a serious matter.”

The scandal, along with the upcoming royal wedding, have seriously eroded support for the Norwegian monarchy. King Harald has remained silent about the issues.

A Norwegian political party known for its anti-royalist stance is using the recent scandals to campaign for a proposal to change the Constitution and abolish the monarchy.

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“These cases show some of the fundamental challenges with the monarchy,” Andreas Sjalg Unneland, a lawmaker of the Socialist Left Party, told The Associated Press in reference to the royal wedding and the Borg Høiby case.

“Do we have to wait for a scandal that is so big that we abolish the monarchy, or can we give it a dignified ending?” Sjalg Unneland asked, adding that the nation should hold a referendum on the issue.

The proposal, expected to be tabled next month, is not likely to gain support from other lawmakers.

Saturday’s wedding will be officiated following the Norwegian Church’s wedding liturgy. While it is labeled a private event and no guest list has been made public, the royal household in Oslo says Harald, Queen Sonja, the heir to the throne Haakon and Crown Princess Mette-Marit will attend. Norway’s future king and queen will be joined by their children. Borg Høiby will not attend.

The Norwegian Church will officiate this marriage to a shaman who talks to spirits? OMG!

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Norway’s King Harald and Queen Sonja on board the Royal Yacht wave to the boats carrying wedding guests from Alesund to Geiranger, Norway, Friday Aug. 30, 2024, for the wedding celebration of Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verret on Saturday. Heiko Junge/NTB via AP

Sweden’s Crown Princess Victoria and her husband Prince Daniel also are reportedly attending the ceremony in Geiranger, 265 kilometres north of Bergen, Norway’s second-largest city. Denmark’s King Frederik and his Australian-born wife Queen Mary, however, will not attend.

Reality stars, media influencers and TV personalities will round out the ceremony’s guests in the scenic town of Geiranger, which sits on the shores of its eponymous fjord designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

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Norway’s Crown Prince Haakon, 2nd right, and Crown Princess Mette-Marit, right, and their children Prince Sverre Magnus, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, center, arrive at the boats in Alesund, Norway, Friday Aug. 30, 2024, that will transport them to Geiranger for the wedding celebration of Princess Martha Louise and Durek Verret on Saturday. Heiko Junge/NTB via AP

The Norwegian royal yacht, Norge, has anchored there, surrounded by mountains and rivers. The ship will serve as the dwelling of the king and queen, the royal household in Oslo said.

Märtha Louise has three children from her previous marriage with Ari Behn, whom she divorced in 2017 after 14 years of marriage.

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Although she is the first child of the 87-year-old Harald, her brother, who is two years younger than her, will succeed their father as king.

The Norwegian Constitution was altered in 1990 to allow the firstborn, regardless of gender, to take precedence in the line of succession. The change does not apply retroactively and Haakon remains first in line to the throne. His oldest child, Princess Ingrid Alexandra, will one day ascend the Norwegian throne.

That is, if there is still a throne to ascend to.

Bits and Bites from Around the World > Assange Closer to Extradition to the USA; Man refuses to answer pregnancy question; Girl marries herself

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Britain clears way for Julian Assange's extradition to United States

By Clyde Hughes

   

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange speaks to reporters from the balcony of the Ecuadorian Embassy in London

 on May 19, 2017. The British Home Secretary agreed to the extradition of Assange to the United States on Friday.

File Photo by Facundo Arrizabalaga/PA-EFE

June 17 (UPI) -- Jailed WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange moved closer to extradition to the United States on Friday after the British Home Secretary Priti Patel approved the move.

Assange, who faces 18 espionage-related laws in the United States, has been aggressively fighting efforts to be taken across the Atlantic Ocean to court hearings.

He has been in London's Belmarsh prison for the past three years after being protected for years in the Ecuadorian embassy there.

"Under the Extradition Act 2003, the Secretary of State must sign an extradition order if there are no grounds to prohibit the order being made," Britain's Home Office said in a statement.

"On 17 June, following consideration by both the Magistrates Court and High Court, the extradition of Mr. Julian Assange to the U.S. was ordered.

"Mr. Assange retains the normal 14-day right to appeal. In this case, the U.K. courts have not found that it would be oppressive, unjust, or an abuse of process to extradite Mr. Assange.

"Nor have they found that extradition would be incompatible with his human rights, including his right to a fair trial and to freedom of expression, and that whilst in the U.S. he will be treated appropriately, including in relation to his health."

In March, a three-judge panel of Britain's Supreme Court ruled that Assange's appeal of a December High Court decision allowing his extradition to the United States did not "raise an arguable point of law" leading the way to Friday's decision.

WikiLeaks released a statement vowing to continue fighting the extradition.

"Today is not the end of the fight. It is only the beginning of a new legal battle," WikiLeaks said, according to The Guardian. "We will appeal through the legal system; the next appeal will be before the high court.

"Julian did nothing wrong. He has committed no crime and is not a criminal. He is a journalist and a publisher and he is being punished for doing his job. It was in Priti Patel's power to do the right thing.

"Instead, she will forever be remembered as an accomplice of the United States in its agenda to turn investigative journalism into a criminal enterprise."

The extradition is tied to 2010, when WikiLeaks posted a series of leaks by former U.S. Army soldier Chelsea Manning, along with more than 250,000 U.S. diplomatic cables containing classified diplomatic analysis from world leaders.

In 2010 an arrest warrant for Assange was issued for two separate sexual assault allegations in Sweden and Britain ruled he should be extradited to Sweden.

Assange fled to the Ecuadorian embassy in London seeking political asylum in 2012, claiming political asylum. He was later charged in the United States in connection with the 2010 cable leak.

I believe the Swedish charges were trumped up because the USA felt Sweden would extradite Assange more easily than Britain. They have since been dropped. 

I also believe that Assange should not have been charged in the USA until the criminal activity he exposed had been dealt with. 

This seems like a Deep State activity aimed at getting control of the internet media. 

Man prevented from donating blood over pregnancy question

Man prevented from donating blood over pregnancy question

© Getty Images / UniversalImagesGroup

Habitual blood donor Leslie Sinclair has been turned away from the Albert Halls clinic in the Scottish city of Stirling after refusing to answer a question on an intake form asking about whether he was expecting a child or had been pregnant during the prior six months.

Sinclair was sent home on Wednesday night from the facility where, despite much-publicized efforts by the Scottish National Blood Transfusion Service (SNBTS) to find 16,000 new donors, National Health Service (NHS) personnel refused to take his blood without a response to the pregnancy question.

“I am angry because I have been giving blood since I was 18 and have regularly gone along. I’m very happy to do so without any problem,” Sinclair said on Thursday, according to the Daily Mail. He explained that while he had no objection to filling out forms about “medical conditions or diseases” because he knows “the blood needs to be safe,” he found the pregnancy question baffling.

“I pointed out to the staff that it was impossible for me to be in that position, but I was told that I would need to answer, otherwise I couldn’t give blood. I told them that was stupid and that if I had to leave, I wouldn’t be back, and that was it, I got on my bike and cycled away,” the retired engineering company driver said.

The 66-year-old, who claims to have donated over 125 pints of blood in the last 50 years, denounced the NHS’ new policy as “nonsensical,” pointing out that “there are vulnerable people waiting for blood, including children, and in desperate need of help.” Pregnant women are required to wait six months after giving birth to donate blood.

The NHS launched what it described as its biggest-ever blood drive in October, calling for an unprecedented 100,000 new donors by the spring in anticipation of doctors returning to performing elective surgical procedures that were largely shut down or postponed during the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The agency also announced last June that “everyone” would be asked “the same gender-neutral questions” in what a PSA video called “our most inclusive donation experience yet.” 

SNBTS director Marc Turner explained that “while pregnancy is only a relevant question to those whose biological sex or sex assigned at birth is female, sex assigned at birth is not always visually clear to staff.” He cited the NHS’ “duty to promote inclusiveness” as the basis for requiring the clearly-male Sinclair to share his pregnancy status.

India: Gujarat girl ties the knot with herself

Her marriage had to be solemnised at home instead of temple as priest backs out

Published:  June 09, 2022 16:40

IANS 

Kshama Bindu going through the rituals of marriage.

Image Credit: AP

Baroda: Gujarat girl Kshama Bindu, who grabbed the headlines and hit the eye of the storm after she expressed her intention to marry herself, has solemnised her marriage in a private function at her residence.

Kshama performed mehandi, haldi ceremonies and got married on Wednesday in the presence of ten people, including her friends and colleagues.

Sharing her wedding pictures on Instagram, 24-year-old Kshama posted in Hindi, “Khud se mohabbat me pad gai, kal mai apni hi Dulhan ban gai”.

In the pictures of her ‘mehandi’, she could be seen wearing a kurta, jacket and dhoti.

Her marriage had to be solemnised at home on June 8 instead of temple on June 11 as the priest who had agreed to get Kshama married to herself backed out after opposition from local politicians.

Kshama’s expression of self love grabbed a mix reaction. On one hand, she was trolled on social media, while on the other hand, many people supported her.

Talking to IANS, Kshama said she changed her wedding venue and kept it simple as she did not want to hurt anyone’s feelings.

She thanked everyone who wished her on social media after the wedding.

And Now for Something Completely Different... Objectophilia

Woman reveals WEDDING plans with Boeing jet

she’s been dating for six years

© Michele Kobke/ Instagram

The heart wants what it wants, as Emily Dickinson once wrote. But the American poet could hardly have envisioned the case of a German woman who has revealed plans to wed “the love of her life” – a 40-ton jumbo jet.

Michele Kobke has been dating the Boeing 737-800 since she met it at Berlin’s Tegel Airport in 2014. She says was immediately attracted to the jet’s wings, winglets and thrusters when she spied it through the airport window.   

Thus a whirlwind romance was sparked that reached new heights when Kobke was allowed stand on the plane’s wing and kiss it last year. The 30-year-old hopes the relationship will really take off when the pair tie the knot at an intimate ceremony in the Netherlands in March.

“The time in the hangar was the most beautiful moment of my life and when I was with him, we enjoyed our time together, we kissed and I caressed him,” the woman gushed, according to the Mirror.  

Kobke has only met her beloved “Schatz,” meaning darling, twice since. So, to keep love-sickness grounded, she cradles plane components in bed at night. She hopes to one day move into a hangar with the aircraft so they can be together all the time. 

The German woman has very clear ideas about how she wants the couple’s special day to go. “I wouldn’t want to put on a white dress, but dress really smartly with black trousers and a black blazer,” she explained.

I want to have someone marry us and say, ‘Do you want to marry your 737-800’ and I say, ‘Yes,’ we kiss, and then I’m immortalised with him and we can be together forever.

Kobke’s peculiar relationship with the Boeing is highly unusual but it’s not unheard of. It’s an example of objectophilia, a form of romantic attraction focused on particular inanimate objects. 

Oh, good! For a minute there I thought she invented another gender.

But the saleswoman argues that her relationship with Schatz is nothing out of the ordinary. “It’s like a normal relationship, we have relaxing evenings together and when we go to bed, we cuddle and fall asleep together,” she says. Love truly knows no bounds.

I'm so glad this article stops right there!

Saudi Woman Banned from Marrying Her Beau Because He ‘Played Musical Instrument’

FILE PHOTO A man tests his newly finished oud / Reuters

A truly heartbreaking story worthy of a place in One Thousand and One Nights has taken place in a Saudi Arabian city. A woman was denied to marry her sweetheart because he allegedly played a musical instrument, local media report.

Roughly two years ago, a 20-year-old male school teacher, asked for the hand of a woman in the city of Unaizah in Qassim province, Saudi newspapers reported. 

However, the woman’s family refused to greenlight the union, saying that the suitor was not “religiously compatible” because he played the oud, a lute-type instrument popular in the Arab states. In some parts of the ultra-conservative kingdom people who play music are considered to have bad reputation.

Yet the woman, 38, wasn’t planning to give up on marrying her beau and took the case to a lower court. The court’s verdict was disappointing. “Because the suitor plays a musical instrument he is unsuitable for the woman from a religious point of view,” a court statement said.

The woman’s uncle approved the marriage, yet one of her brothers remained a stumbling block. Females in the Gulf kingdom still have limited rights despite ambitious reforms advocated by Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Apart from a strict dress codes, women must seek permission from their guardians to marry or divorce.

The 38-year-old even brought the case to an appeals court but she also lost that, despite it being reportedly revealed that a key witness against the man never actually saw him play the oud.

However, her commitment should be applauded as she is not planning to stop. She told Okaz newspaper and Saudi Gazette that she will seek intervention from the highest court authorities. “I won't stop here. I'll take the matter to the Supreme Court. Maybe I'll find my salvation there,” she said. 

Good luck finding anything resembling salvation in a Sharia court. And yet, western countries allow Sharia to be practiced in some places. How absurd!

The plaintiff, who holds an executive position and manages over 300 people, insists that she is “pretty sure” she knows “what is best” for her. “The reason why I am insisting on marrying my suitor is that he has been a teacher for 20 years and everyone who knows him vouches for his honor and piety,” she stated.

Love, Marriage & Divorce in 15 Minutes in the Gulf States

Groom divorces bride 15 minutes into marriage

Gulf News
Bassam Za'za', Legal and Court Correspondent

Dubai: The marriage between a couple lasted less than 15 minutes following a misunderstanding between the groom and his father-in-law, who was in a rush to collect his daughter’s bride price.

The newly-married man divorced his wife within 15 minutes after signing the marriage contract after he felt demeaned by his father-in-law who did not want to wait for him to bring part of the agreed-upon money from his parked car.

The man was believed to have an agreement with the bride’s father to pay Dh100,000 (about $27,000 USD) for the marriage and mention the amount in the contract, an Arabic news report said on Tuesday.

According to the father-husband agreement, the man was supposed to pay Dh50,000 at the time of signing the contract inside the Sharia judge’s office and the remaining amount upon leaving the court building.

Family members and friends accompanied the bride and the groom to the Sharia judge’s office to witness the signing of the marriage contract.

The groom paid the bride’s father Dh50,000 in the judge’s office at the time of signing, according to the news report, and as the bride, groom and attendees walked out, the bride’s father asked his son-in-law to pay the rest.

The groom asked his father-in-law to wait for a few minutes and assured him that the other Dh50,000 was in his car.

The woman’s father insisted the groom pay up immediately, even though the groom told him that he would get the money within five minutes after leaving the court building.

The father-in-law then told the man to send a relative or friend to get the money, a lawyer who is handling the case confirmed to Gulf News on Tuesday.

The lawyer, who wished not to be named, added, “The groom felt insulted and demeaned by his father-in-law. He told the bride’s father that he did not want his daughter as his wife and divorced her in less than 15 minutes from signing the marriage contract.”

I wonder if that was the real story? I wonder if the bride's father suspected that the groom would run off with the bride without paying the remaining Dh50,000? In fact, I would bet money that such was the case which just goes to show you what kind of man the father was selling his daughter to. I presume the father kept the first Dh50,000.