The New Generation: More Chinese millennials are choosing not to marry

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A traditional Chinese saying goes, a man forms a family before building his own career. But a growing number of young Chinese are saying that they want to skip the first step completely. CGTN's Yang Chengxi has the story.

This spot in People's Park of Shanghai is one of China's biggest markets. But you can't buy fruit or vegetables or household goods here. This is a market for marriage.

YANG CHENGXI SHANGHAI "It's where many senior Shanghai citizens bring page after page of personal information every weekend in hopes of finding a partner, but not for themselves."

It's for their sons and daughters, who are among China's 200 million unmarried citizens. While many parents are exerting all efforts to find them a mate, a growing number are saying.

WANG HONGCHENG ENTREPRENEUR "No."

22-year-old Wang Hongcheng is a busy entrepreneur.

WANG HONGCHENG ENTREPRENEUR "I was born and raised in the north side of China which people getting married early is just everywhere."

However, finding a wife isn't part of his plan, at least for the next 10 years.

WANG HONGCHENG ENTREPRENEUR "I'm trying to start my own career, which means there isn't really any time to think about how lonely I am, or how pathetic I look like. Instead, I just want to get my work done, I want to get everything good, I wanna be successful, then I maybe have time to think about other stuff."

Wang convinced his parents of his intentions, but that thinking didn't sit well with his extended family, who occasionally pressure him to try and find a bride.

WANG HONGCHENG ENTREPRENEUR "I don't think they really care about my personal life, we don't really have anything to talk about so. Hey, what should we talk about? Do you have a girlfriend?"

The young businessman says that as times change in China, families' attitudes should change too. He thinks it's normal to be married to one's career.

WANG HONGCHENG ENTREPRENEUR "I don't think my parents understand it. Twenty or thirty years ago, when my parents were young, they don't really have a thing called maybe you can start something by yourself. Because at that time, you either work for a factory, or you work for someone."

The number of young Chinese people who refuse to get married is growing.

XIA JIANGQI, SOCIOLOGIST SHANGHAI ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES "According to a survey, there are 3 to 8 percent of adults in China who hold negative views towards marriage."

Zhu Haoliang works in advertising. His attitude towards marriage is more philosophical: Tying the knot just isn't for everyone.

ZHU HAOLIANG ADVERTISING PROFESSIONAL "Why should I get married if I haven't see the right one? Will I never betray my fidelity and not to break my lover's heart? Will marriage lower the quality of my life? How much will I sacrifice for the family?"

Zhu says his contemporaries aren't asking these important questions before they cave in to social norms and parental expectations.

ZHU HAOLIANG ADVERTISING PROFESSIONAL "We are more rational and responsible than ever. Marriage is a lifetime thing, human emotion and love is unpredictable. So many factors will bring you a bad marriage, and it will easily destroy the life of two and leaves great disappointment of love and PTSD."

Seismic change is clearly coming to the institution of marriage in China, as this generation of ambitious doers and nonconformist thinkers take center stage. Yang Chengxi, CGTN, SHANGHAI.