'Leftover men' not a crisis in the making

The number of 30-plus bachelors, or "leftover men", in China's rural areas is astonishing. Some demographers estimate there may be 30 million, even 50 million of them thanks to the widening sex ratio at birth. But such estimation, to some extent, overstates the reality of rural residents' marital status.

The gender imbalance may indicate the number of unmarried men, not necessarily "leftover men", is higher than women. But since a husband can be five years older than his wife, and vice-versa, the age gap is not a major concern in marriage.

The gender imbalance at birth started widening in 1995 and peaked about 10 years later. In other words, most of those born during this period are less than 20 years old - and hence not old enough for marriage - and will reach the "leftover men's threshold" after only about 10 years.