http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/world/2011/June/Chinas-Women-Shortage-Fuels-Trafficking/
In rural China, a host of cultural and economic factors such as gender imbalance, rural poverty, and the high cost of bride price and wedding are the root causes for the increased demand of women into forced marriage Due to the long history of devaluing women, an imbalanced sex ratio has been a long-term problem. It was reported that the sex ratio at birth in 2010 was 118.08 males for 100 females, which was an improvement of 119.45 to 100 in 2009. As a result of this imbalanced sex ratio, many poor men in rural areas are unmarried either because they could not find a partner or because they could not afford the bride price or wedding. In many areas, the high cost of a wedding ceremony and bride gifts exceeds the price of purchasing a wife. Due to the traditional belief that a daughter after marriage will stop providing for her natal family and become the labor force for the husband’s family, the bride’s parents require the bridegroom to provide financial compensation for raising the daughter. Without the appropriate bride price, the parents would not permit the marriage. Since parents’ endorsement is the key to the daughter’s marriage, poor men find themselves unable to afford a bride.
Pressured by the family, many poor men would purchase women from outside into forced marriages. In many rural areas in China, marriage is not an individual issue, but a family business. This is because men are obligated to produce male heirs to continue the lineage through marriage. In times of difficulty to fulfill his duty, a man usually receives help from his entire family to purchase a woman who will be utilized as a reproductive tool to carry on the lineage. When facing the police’s demand to free the woman, the buyer would receive sympathy and may even be protected by villagers because purchasing a wife is considered a morally correct thing to do for an unmarried man.