

China's male/female ratio and its effect on trade - ulysses
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2011/03/trade

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alexlawford
As someone who lives in China, I can vouch for some of the ideas expressed
here. They have a phrase that basically says you need a car and a house before
you're considered eligible for marriage. For a number of reasons, however,
many of the things described in this article can't last forever: younger
people (known here as "jiu ling hou" or post-90s generation) typically are far
less concerned about saving money, and love to spend. The one child policy has
been relaxed too - if you were both single children born after the 80s, from
an ethnic minority, live in one or two of the biggest cities or live in the
countryside and your first child was a girl you can have a second child. Also
a little-reported and not officially recognised fact is that the statistics
are not as bad as they seem. In China, you must register your child (for a "hu
kou") in order for them to get an education etc. In the countryside many
families will choose to only register their first son so as not to incur
fines. This means that there are likely millions of women and girls out there
not recognised by the state.

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GiraffeNecktie
Wouldn't they eventually show up in a census?

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alexlawford
Yeah they actually did a census last year that was supposed to be the first to
include these "unofficials". But yes, this does mean that lots of women have
never received an education. The rich/poor divide here has to be seen to be
believed.

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po
_If sex ratios are as important as Mr Wei’s argues, the only way the Chinese
can restore global financial order is to either import women from other
countries, export men, or promote polyandry._

… or start a very bloody war with someone.

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xiaoma
I'm not sure exporting men or importing women is feasible considering that
China's only comparably populous neighbor, India, suffers from the same
male/female imbalance.

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m-photonic
I don't see why that should make it unfeasible; China is still the wealthier
country of the two, after all.

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nandemo
Yeah, but what kind of unfilial Chinese son and unfilial Indian daughter would
disgrace their own families like that? It seems unlikely to happen en masse.

