China’s marriage registration numbers have been continuously declining, leading to a decrease in the birth rate. Amid the Chinese Communist Party’s push to promote marriage registration, a phenomenon known as “flash marriages” has quietly spread. What used to be a sacred marriage certificate has now turned into a series of “short-term contracts,” with some even orchestrated by marriage agencies, forming a chain of deception in society: some men pay tens of thousands of yuan in dowry, the woman gets divorced in the morning and remarries in the afternoon; some women are found to be syphilis positive during the pre-marital check-up; and shortly after getting married, the woman quickly disappears through various means to facilitate divorce.
In recent years, in the Huaguo Garden of Guizhou’s Nanming District, a fraudulent chain focusing on “flash marriages” has taken shape. Some marriage agencies and matchmakers collude, targeting unmarried men from other provinces eager to settle down, using “flash marriages” and “marriage fraud compensation” as bait to attract clients. They arrange for women to quickly meet and marry, only for the men to later discover that the women have hidden problems, and the women soon disappear, leaving many men empty-handed.
Chinese media have recently reported on cases of victims. For example, 33-year-old Huang Hui from Fuzhou, Jiangxi, who works on a construction site, was introduced to Guizhou’s Anshun woman named Li through the Guizhou Zhenxi Marriage Agency in December 2024. Li, allegedly a short-marriage and childless woman, divorced in the morning on December 14, and remarried Huang in the afternoon after receiving a total of 308,000 yuan (RMB) in dowry and agency fees. However, Li left Huang’s hometown in Jiangxi within two days of receiving the marriage certificate, claiming she was attending a birthday party for her best friend.
Huang Hui revealed that he had gone undercover in several flash marriage groups in Guiyang for over a year. He discovered that some of the matchmakers and marriage agencies were colluding, deliberately concealing critical information about the women’s debts, gambling habits, and alcohol abuse. Furthermore, the matchmakers encouraged the women to stir up conflicts after marriage, intending to divorce through domestic violence and not return the dowry.
Mr. Wang, 37, from Tianmen, Hubei, met Wang, a divorced woman from Yuncheng, Shanxi, through the Guizhou Jixi Matchmaking Agency in November 2024. The agency introduced Wang as the same age as Mr. Wang, divorced with a daughter returning to the man, working as a restaurant waitress with a 45,000 yuan debt for her mother’s medical treatment. After Mr. Wang paid 155,000 yuan in agency fees and 128,000 yuan in dowry, they got married. However, within the five months of living together, they constantly argued, and during the pre-marital check-up, it was discovered that Wang had syphilis with the agency dismissing it as a “minor treatable illness.” Mr. Wang also discovered suspicious messages on Wang’s phone and learned that she was involved in nightclub hostess work at KTV establishments. After Wang disappeared, Mr. Wang discovered from her relatives that Wang was actually in her third marriage with three children. The debt was not for her mother’s medical treatment but for cosmetic surgery loans.
Currently, Huang Hui and Mr. Wang have reported their cases to the Nanming District Public Security Bureau in Guiyang, and the cases have been criminally investigated. Some marriage agencies have refunded part of the fees under the coordination of relevant departments.
A man named Dapeng (alias) who took his younger brother-in-law to Huaguo Garden for matchmaking told Epoch Times: When his brother-in-law found a match, they hurriedly demanded money, taking several days to negotiate a deal of 250,000 yuan. Their main focus was on flash marriages, where they quickly took the money, and within four to five days, everything would be settled, and the women could go to the men’s homes. Locals said that the matchmaking agency was mostly fraudulent, with the women receiving around 100,000 yuan, and the rest was charged as intermediary service fees.
Men from all over the country come for matchmaking, and the women are accommodated by their agency, usually being women who have been married before and have children. “As long as you have an ID card, you can get married anywhere and receive a marriage certificate nationwide. Typically, once the dowry agreement is settled, the money must be paid. First, pay the agency 30,000 yuan, then undergo a physical examination. If everything is fine with the examination, the remaining amount is settled, and then the marriage certificate is obtained,” he said.
It’s worth noting that Dapeng’s brother-in-law is from a rural area, born in 1990.
“We didn’t pay, and it was too quick. It felt like a scam. Otherwise, you’d get married in four to five days, only to have the person run away after just a few days at home,” Dapeng said.
According to Dapeng, the matchmaker women instructed the brides on how to get divorced, allowing them to marry and divorce multiple times. “Flash marriages and divorces are easy, especially if the man gets angry and hits the woman. Taking a good video is all it takes,” he added.
He said, “Luckily, I went with them; otherwise, we would have been scammed. As soon as you arrive in Guiyang, when you open Douyin (Chinese TikTok), all you see is this scam of flash marriages. Because once you are there, your phone will be located in that area. The community (Huaguo Garden) is large and full of scammers.”
Huaguo Garden in Guiyang, Guizhou, is a renowned large-scale high-rise residential community in Asia, with a total construction area of around 18.3 million square meters and a planned area of about 10 square kilometers, known as the “smallest community in Asia,” boasting a population of about 400,000. Dapeng stated that Huaguo Garden is nicknamed the “Little Myanmar,” known not only for marriage fraud but also other illicit activities such as pyramid schemes, resembling scam zones in Southeast Asia where deception is common.
In society, there has long been talk of “rotating marriages.” In the past, “rotating marriages” referred to women remarrying and divorcing frequently in a short period. The process involved marrying into a family, quickly getting pregnant and giving birth, receiving a high dowry, then divorcing for various reasons. Women would then remarry and repeat the cycle. Marriage lost its emotional and moral significance, reduced to a transaction based on procreation and financial gains.
“Flash marriage” refers to quickly entering into a marriage. If followed by rapid divorces and multiple repetitions, it evolves into “rotating marriages.” However, these “flash marriages and divorces” scams in Guiyang may not necessarily lead to childbirth.
“Marriage trading” is rooted in Chinese society. The results of the seventh national census of China in 2020 showed that the male population was 723.34 million, accounting for 51.24%, while the female population was 688.44 million, making up 48.76%. There are 34.9 million more men than women. These surplus men are distributed across different age groups, with 17.52 million more men of marriageable age (20-40 years) than women, resulting in a gender ratio of 108.9.
In some remote villages in the western regions of China, the gender ratio in the matchmaking market can reach as high as 13:2, creating an extreme shortage of marriage resources and making it difficult for men to find partners.
Under this double pressure, for unmarried men of marriageable age, the burden of marrying at a high cost and supporting a family long-term outweighs their desire to settle down, leading them to opt to have a child solely to continue the family line. For women participating in “rotating marriages,” it becomes an efficient means of livelihood, marrying for a dowry, divorcing, and remarrying over multiple cycles, accumulating wealth over the years.
Yang Jian (alias), a man from Qingtian County, Lishui, Zhejiang, mentioned that “rotating marriages” have been around since 2011, albeit not on a large scale. He shared an account of his cousin who had mental health issues and, at 35, arranged for a surrogate mother, paying the woman 20,000 yuan to bear a child for him. The woman, who was in her thirties and also had mental health problems, had allegedly given birth to seven children before marrying his cousin and continued to have children for payment from others.
Chen Dong (alias) from Shaanxi mentioned, “I’ve seen women who have been married eight times, shuttling between neighboring villages, married and divorced eight times, giving birth to three or four children. I didn’t inquire closely, but it seems they did it for money. They sought out single men in their thirties or forties, without intermediaries arranging the matches.”
In recent years, fraudulent “flash marriages” have evolved into an industry, with many marriage agencies getting involved, orchestrating “flash marriages and divorces” for women to defraud families of substantial dowries without leaving behind children.
In April this year, the Nanning District Court of Guiyang publicly tried the scam case involving the Happy Matchmaker Marriage Agency, pointing out that the agency used social media platforms to promote services such as “flash marriages,” “speed dating,” and “marriage first, love later.” On one hand, they packaged marriage as a conveyor belt service to attract single men eager to settle down. On the other hand, they enticed financially distressed women who had no intention of marrying genuinely to participate in defrauding men who came to the agency for matchmaking.
Lawyer Xiao, a marriage law specialist from Hainan, told Epoch Times, “I have been dealing with marriage and family cases for many years, and through interactions in the legal field, I have come across some bizarre case facts and examples. However, due to client confidentiality, I cannot disclose them to you. The marriage and romance environment has changed now, with many dark social phenomena and explosive events occurring.” Xiao mentioned that there are currently numerous marriage and property disputes hidden behind these incidents of “flash marriages and divorces.”
Canadian Chinese affairs expert and veteran commentator Sheng Xue expressed to Epoch Times that the chaotic state of marriage and romance in China is deeply rooted in society. She attributed this to the Chinese Communist Party’s extreme and oppressive governance, along with the false facade of later reforms, which have broken society’s traditional norms. The party has continuously crossed the boundaries of basic ethics, morals, and human relations that were previously untouchable by the populace, ultimately leading to the fragmentation of everything from weddings, funerals, romance, and family, among others.
According to Sheng Xue, the consequences of the long-standing “family planning” policy by the Chinese Communist Party have brought about structural harm. The “family planning” policy, a population control measure implemented starting in the early 1970s and rigorously enforced until around 2013, focused on each family having one child. Sheng Xue noted that with the Communist Party in power, breaking down the traditional family structure and the lack of robust human rights protection, especially in fields like eldercare, destabilized society. During the family planning period, the majority of families hoped for a male child, resulting in an extreme gender imbalance in Chinese society. With the rise of leftover men and the erosion of moral beliefs by the PARTY, any problems faced now stem from the historical policies of the Chinese Communist Party.
Sheng Xue further analyzed that on one hand, there indeed is a survival need among people, such as men wanting a male heir but lacking the financial means. Hence they do not expect true love or a lasting family life but resort to quick-fix survival tactics. On the other hand, this aligns with the policy orientation of the Chinese Communist Party as there has been a decline in birth and marriage rates in recent years, causing significant economic pressure. Therefore, through specific policies, such as imposing mandatory marriage rates from higher to lower levels, the CCP is indirectly encouraging these acts of “rotating marriages” and “flash marriages.”
Reported by mainland Chinese media, the Nanning District Civil Affairs Bureau stated that there are over a hundred registered marriage agencies in the area. The matchmaking market in that region began to be robustly active in the second half of 2023.
China’s marriage rate, which peaked at 13.469 million couples in 2013, dropped to 6.763 million couples in 2025. In recent years, the Chinese authorities have been attempting to “urge marriages.” Starting from June 2023, the Civil Affairs Department of the Chinese Communist Party expanded the “inter-provincial online marriage registration” pilot project for mainland residents. This initiative, which initially involved five provinces in 2021, expanded to 21 provinces, setting the stage for cross-provincial marriage fraud.
Currently, the Guizhou Zhenxi Marriage Agency involved in the case has been listed as having abnormal operations. The Guizhou Jixi Marriage Agency has been deregistered, while another agency, the Guizhou Leyi Marriage Service Co., is under police investigation for alleged fraud. Some of the staff have already faced criminal enforcement measures.
Sheng Xue highlighted that private matchmaking deception has become rampant and that the authorities only act after receiving reports. She noted that this situation could provide an opportunity for government departments to earn money through confiscating illicit earnings and imposing fines. She stressed that this is not a normal way for a country’s government to govern.
With fraudulent activities like “flash marriages” and “rotating marriages” polluting the marriage and matchmaking scene in China, the complex web of deceit and exploitation behind the seemingly sacred institution of marriage has revealed a darker side of modern Chinese society.