To reflect the rapidly changing concept of marriage for today's Chinese youth, a newly-compiled report on marriage in China was released in September.

Over two million people took part in a survey that backs up the current report, which was jointly prepared by Beijing Normal University and two other Chinese research institutions since last August. Random and in-depth interviews were made on streets and through the Internet.

It found that 80 percent of female respondents thought men aged 31 were ideal as marriage partners, while in 2006, the best age for men was 23 to 26. And men at the age of 35 or even 40 were also acceptable for more than 30 percent and 15 percent of women.

In comparison, 65 percent of male respondents thought that the ideal marrying age for women is 25. And for women who are over 30, the opportunity for getting married decreased with the increase of age. While 25.5 percent men thought it was okay to marry a woman who was 30, only 12.5 percent said they could accept a wife whose age was 35.

The marriageable age for women is much younger than that of men, according to the report. It also explains why there are more female singles out there than males, against the backdrop of China having more men than women.

The most important qualities that men and women at marriageable age think their spouses should have are good personality, mental and physical health and high income. As for their parents, the top three are good personality, successful career, and high income, more than their children's choice.

Chinese youth are more open and tolerant when talking about sexual experience than before. Among the survey's respondents, 32 percent thought it did not matter if their spouses had sex experience or not and 29 percent said they had such experience, with only 14 percent having no sex before marriage.

Pre-marital cohabitation is accepted by more people. Fourty-five percent of respondents said they understood cohabitation but would not try it, 51 percent said they would try it if possible and only four percent refused to accept it.

The survey's on-street interviews which took place in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou - the three biggest cities in China - showed that 119 of the 1,204 married couples, about 10 percent, started their romantic relationship online. The proportion in Guangzhou, Beijing and Shanghai being 13 percent, 12 percent and 4.5 percent respectively.

Two-thirds of people believe that it doesn't matter if a woman marries a man who is younger than her and two-thirds do not care much about their spouses' educational level. However, 54 percent of people could not accept the fact that a woman has higher income than her husband, with 25 percent reluctantly and 21 percent fully accepting it.