In response to China's declining birth rate, a legislator proposed that the state make "dating" and "marriage" a mandatory course in universities.
Last year, state-run media China Daily reported that Chinese Communist Party (CCP) officials are becoming more concerned about the consistent massive drops of birth rates in their country despite the availability of their two-child policy.
Couples' preferences to remain childless or to just have one to save money, and the increasing divorce rates are among the contributing factors are. China, however, seeks to maintain its population size to "meet labor demands" and the continuity of its "economy and society."
According to state propaganda media Global Times, Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) member Yu Xinwei suggested during their recent "two sessions" with the National People's Congress (NPC) to require universities to teach Chinese students about relationships.
"Chinese college students lack emotion education. They are prone to excessive mental ups and downs and may even carry out extreme behavior when suffering setbacks in a relationship," Yu said.
Global Times also mentioned on their report that the "number of cases of college students committing suicide due to relationship problems" has alarming spiked in the past years.
"Strengthening marriage and love education among college students is conducive to the stability and harmony of their future partnerships and family relations," Yu added to back her proposal on the need for pre-marital education during the students' university years.
The state-approved textbooks for the proposed mandatory course will contain compilations of "actual cases involving dating, marriage, family relationships and parent-child relationships," reports the Global Times.
According to Breitbart, the proposal was more about giving "the Communist Party greater control of the lives of young Chinese people."
In 2017, the Communist Youth League, also working under the party, announced the launch of a dating service app "to help young ideological zealots find each other." Participants, however, will only meet "Party-approved" individuals who are in "good standing with the regime."
Chen Aizhu of Zhejiang, another lawmaker, also proposed to include pre-marital "training" under the Party-run "education" for young people particularly those applying for a marriage license.
"Carrying out premarital trainings is to help to improve people's sense of responsibility to the family, encouraging the new couples to be loyal in marriage and cherish their family," Chen said noting how Chinese youths are "getting more open" in their views of relationships.
Last year, major cities in China experienced a "divorce peak" post COVID-19 lockdowns. Marriage registration offices were swamped with requests for divorce appointments.
"As a result of the epidemic, many couples have been bound with each other at home for over a month, which evoked the underlying conflicts," Wang told Global Times. He is an officer from the registration office in Beilin district of Xi'an.
On a little positive note, Wang added that some of these divorce requests were just out of impulsiveness. Those who later regretted it decided to remarry.
In February, the Shanxi Think Tank Development Association, a research organization, also put forward what Breitbart call an "unorthodox proposal." The association told the government to "pressure single women in the nation's big cities to move to rural areas and marry single farmers after a certain age."
