Why do Cambodian brides who marry in China marry for money?

When Benta left Cambodia to marry a Chinese man, she did so for money, not for love.

According to a report on April 19 on the website of the US "China Canton Fair", she was 32 years old at the time and unmarried, so it was difficult for her to have the opportunity to earn money for her family. Her home is located in the countryside of Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia. The China she saw on TV was a wealthy country, so when an introducer - a matchmaker from the same village - introduced her to a man from rural Jiangxi, China, she thought she was heading towards a bright future.

But when she came to Huanggang, a place that was not necessarily richer than her hometown, this beautiful hope quickly dimmed. Sex selection and son preference in some places have distorted the sex ratio of China's population. The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences predicts that by 2020, 24 million men of marriageable age will be unable to find a spouse, many of them in rural areas. The matchmaking fee is about US$10,000 to US$20,000 (approximately RMB 70,000 to 140,000 yuan) - although this is indeed expensive for an ordinary Chinese farmer, it is still cheap compared with the bride price in rural areas. So, a single man who wants to start a family can find a Cambodian bride.

Reports say that in recent years, a large number of Cambodian women have married to Jiangxi, Zhejiang and Fujian provinces in China, bulging the wallets of marriage brokers in their hometowns and in these places in China. While neither government has announced the number of migrants in this situation, Cambodia Daily reported that officials from the Chinese Ministry of Public Security told their Cambodian counterparts that in August 2016, there were 1,000 Chinese-Cambodian transnational couples living in China. 7000 pairs.

Like Bentha, many Cambodian women who come to China know that they will marry Chinese men, but are not fully aware of the various risks involved. According to a report published by the United Nations Cooperation Program on Combating Trafficking in Persons, once they arrive in rural China, they may be forced to marry Chinese men they do not know. Some women are happy with their Chinese husbands, who have jobs and are able to send money home. They see their marriage as a way to live a happy life.

The report said that Benta was not so sure. Since December 2013, she has been the wife of 52-year-old Chinese man Zou. She gave birth to two boys, one 2 and a half years old and the other 6 months old. (Benta and Zou’s full names have been omitted to protect their identities.) Although she said her husband treated her well, she still missed home and often felt lonely. She knew only one other Cambodian bride in the city where she and her husband lived.

Since her husband works a part-time job and does heavy physical work with low income, it is not easy to make money to support a family of four, so Benta knows that she wants to live a better life and send money home. Unable to achieve. Now she is confused. She wanted to stay in China to raise her two sons, but she couldn't help but regret her decision to come there.