Newly-weds in Beijing have almost doubled their expenditure on weddings compared with five years ago, as both the country's economy and personal income have grown, a government survey shows.

Each new couple spent about 107,290 yuan (US$14,778) on various items directly linked to weddings in 2007, such as wedding gowns and banquets, almost twice that in 2003, according to the survey published by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics.

The indirect expenditure on wedding, such as purchasing cars and apartments, for every couple was nearly 220,000 yuan, up 13.7 percent from five years ago, the survey says.

The survey was jointly conducted by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Statistics and the Beijing investigation team under the National Bureau of Statistics from 2003 to July 2007, covering 764 urban households in Beijing that had experienced weddings.

Of the direct expenditure, wedding banquets cost the most, or 34,766 yuan for every couple last year, accounting for more than 30 percent of the total and 2.3 times that in 2003, the survey shows.

A new couple spent 8,535.8 yuan on honeymoon travel last year, 2.2 times than five years ago, it shows.

The survey found that nine out of 10 new couples need financial support from their parents in the past five years. The parents paid up to 80 percent of the wedding bill.

It also found that more than 34,000 young men and women tied the knot in Beijing in 2006, up nearly 80 percent from 2005, or the most in 25 years.

(Xinhua News Agency January 19, 2008)