Chinese university launches undergraduate marriage programme

China's Civil Affairs Vocational University, which was inaugurated just this September, has launched a new undergraduate marriage programme to develop marriage-related industries and culture. The programme aims to cultivate professionals to develop marriage related industries and culture.

Called Marriage Services and Management, this degree programme focuses on the development of the marriage industry in general with an aim to highlight China's positive marriage and family culture to students and the public.

Modules in this course include sociology, family ethics, wedding venue design, marriage industry economics, and family policies. Students, after finishing the programme, can intern at agencies that specialise in weddings, matchmaking, marriage registration, and marriage counselling. The university will enrol 70 undergraduates from 12 provinces this year to field sectors including "family counselling, high-end wedding planning and the development of matchmaking products."

Policymakers in China are trying to reverse the country's decline in new births, which is strongly connected to marriage rates. Authorities believe that this new programme can contribute to their efforts of reversing China's declining birth rate.