Swipe Right for the Motherland
In recent years, as China’s demographic crisis has moved toward the center of government concerns about the country’s social and economic future, state media have played a critical role in pushing the appeal of marriage and childbirth to millions of young women who are less than enthused by the idea. But now the CCP’s flagship People’s Daily (人民日报) is going a step further — organizing its own singles events to do its part for the nation.
On May 30, 600 single young people from over 40 military units and government agenciesgathered in Beijing for a state-organized mixer themed “Youth in Full Bloom, Military and Civilian Hearts United.” Organizers included the PLA, the Beijing Women’s Federation, and People’s Daily Online (人民网), which provided the infrastructure through its proprietary dating app, “Hello, Good Times” (你好友趣), launched in October 2024. The dating app is a technical response to the Party’s 2021 directive to “build a new type of marriage and childbearing culture.” That policy charged propaganda organs with changing the way young Chinese thought about marriage and family.
In 2025, China recorded a new historic low birth rate, with the population declining for a fourth consecutive year, down by 3.39 million over 2024. Marriages also declined sharply in 2024. In recent years, the leadership has rolled out various initiatives to reverse the trend, from cash bonuses to longer parental leave, but ultimately to little effect. But while China is trending low on new births, its official media are clearly not running low on fresh ideas.