The number of marriages between Hong Kong and mainland residents has been increasing since solo tours to Hong Kong were introduced last July.

Of the 35,439 marriages registered in Hong Kong last year, 11,613, or 33 percent, were between Hong Kong and mainland residents, the Hong Kong Commercial Daily reported this week. In 2000, only 10.6 percent of the registered marriage involved mainland residents.

In the first half of last year, about 700 to 800 marriages involving mainlanders were registered each month, while the figure rose to more than 1,000 since September, said the paper.

The booming cross-region marriages helped the businesses of Hong Kong marriage agencies, said the paper.

Mr. Lee of a Hong Kong marriage agency said its business had surged 10 percent since July.

Lee said 10 percent of his customers were mainlanders, while in the past, only 2 to 3 percent were mainlanders.

The agency was considering cooperating with mainland marriage agencies, said Lee.

Lee said most of his mainland customers were women.

Sociologists suggest Hong Kong women should lower their requirements for husbands, as more Hong Kong men were turning to mainland girls.

A Hong Kong woman requires her spouse have a higher salary and social status than she does and it is therefore hard for them to find an ideal husband, sociologists say.

However, as the mainland was developing fast, more Hong Kong women would turn to mainland men, the paper predicted.

(Shenzhen Daily May 27, 2004)