Chinese men turn to Vietnam to say 'I Do'

Vietnam's mail-order bride business is booming, fuelled by surging demand from Chinese men who have given up hope of finding a wife due to growing gender gap in the country. Though international marriage agencies are officially illegal, loopholes in China have allowed the industry to flourish, China's state-run Global Times reported on Tuesday.

For a group purchase price of 30,000 to 40,000 yuan (USD 4,727 - USD 6,303), an attractive Vietnamese bride aged between 18 and 25 can be 'bought' from a marriage agency based in China's Yunnan Province, which regularly posts online advertisements, it said. The agency is registered as a Chinese dating service in the provincial capital Kunming and organises group tours to Vietnam for single Chinese men and arranges dates for them with Vietnamese women selected from a catalogue as a possible mate for marriage.

The cost of the tour includes travel expenses, translation services, gifts for the women's families and the wedding ceremony.

They also assume responsibility for finding clients a new bride if the first one flees after the wedding, according to a report by Kunming-based newspaper the Spring City Evening News.

'We're gathering Chinese clients for group tours to Vietnam to arrange dating activities, not group purchasing. More than 80 per cent of clients find brides,' an agency employee told the Global Times.

'All prospective brides who participate in the dates are willing to marry a Chinese suitor,' it said.