A website on asexual marriage was recently launched in Chongqing Municipality. After it was opened, many people logged onto the website. In just ten days, 400 people registered as subscribers on the website, 60 percent of them women.

Last Sunday, 20 people considered as belonging to the asexual group gathered in Tieshanping, in Jiangbei district of Chongqing. Most of them were married. Among these people, 30 percent were couples that came together. At the gathering, the organizer invited psychological doctors to teach them how to maintain their marriage in asexual status.

The most active members at the meeting were not those unmarried people who came there looking for partners, but the couple themselves. "From appearance, they look just the same as any couples. They talk and chat, and even have some intimate behaviors, " said the organizer.

The website was created by a person surnamed Peng who works in the psychological field. He said that apart from physical, psychological defects, and a dull relationship between husband and wife, asexual marriages were mainly caused by too much work pressure for the husband and wife to devote their time to maintaining their marriage.

"Asexual marriage is not a sin but the couple should face it with a positive attitude. If they don't communicate with each other, misunderstanding will arise between the couple and overnight romance will come about," said Peng. By launching the website, Mr. Peng said that he hoped that more people involved in asexual marriage would be able to find their suitable marriage partner and couples could shake off the asexual status as soon as possible.

At present, most people that have asexual marriage are the highly educated group. Among them, there are teachers, officials, white collar workers, etc. For many, their asexual marriages are caused by post-natal factors instead of physical defects or a sudden incident.

According to sociologists, apart from diseases or sudden changes, couples that do not have any sexual relationships with each other for a month are involved in an asexual marriage relationship.

(China News Service July 12, 2006)