6 days ago
Last Updated:May 26, 2025, 16:44 IST
The Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh advised Chinese nationals to avoid seeking Bangladeshi brides due to exploitative practices, illegal agents, and online romance scams
The Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh urged citizens to avoid illegal matchmaking agents. (Representative Image)
In an unusual advisory directed at its citizens, the Chinese Embassy in Bangladesh on Sunday issued a public notice urging Chinese nationals to not seek Bangladeshi brides. The warning, aimed at curbing a rising trend of cross-border matchmaking, highlights the growing concern over exploitative practices, illegal agents, and online romance scams targeting vulnerable individuals on both sides of the border.
Do not even consider marrying in Bangladesh, the embassy advisory stated bluntly, cautioning citizens to strictly adhere to China’s foreign marriage laws. The notice emphasised the need to reject the notion of “buying a foreign wife", a practice reportedly growing among young Chinese men facing the country’s long-standing gender imbalance.
The embassy also warned against trusting short-video platforms and matchmaking agents operating under dubious pretexts, many of whom lure young men with promises of quick and easy marriages to Bangladeshi women. Beware of commercial cross-border marriage agencies, the statement reportedly said, adding that citizens should be vigilant against romance scams that can lead to serious financial and emotional harm.
With China continuing to grapple with the demographic fallout of its former one-child policy and a significant gender gap, thousands of young Chinese men have increasingly turned their gaze toward neighboring South Asian nations, including Bangladesh, in search of brides. In some cases, entire networks have emerged, orchestrating cross-border marriages, often through illegal means. Women are sometimes lured under false pretenses and trafficked into China, where reports suggest they may be confined and subjected to abuse.
Bangladeshi authorities have struggled to crack down on this shadowy network, and when cases are filed, legal proceedings tend to drag on for years. Heavy penalties and lengthy prison terms await those found guilty of violating cross-border human trafficking and marriage laws.
In this context, China’s embassy says the advisory is meant to protect its citizens from legal trouble and moral entanglements. Chinese nationals who fall victim to scams or coercion are being urged to contact local police or China’s public security departments without delay.
This isn’t the first time the issue has surfaced. China has previously issued similar warnings in Pakistan, Myanmar, and Cambodia, countries where the promise of marriage has increasingly become a smokescreen for trafficking and fraud.
But the timing of the latest warning, and its unusually direct tone, signals a more urgent diplomatic concern. Bangladesh, already on edge from occasional political instability and whispers of internal strife, now finds itself entangled in a sensitive cross-border social issue, one that underscores how demographic pressures in one country can create vulnerabilities in another.
Location :Bangladesh
First Published:News world 'Stop Buying Foreign Wives': Chinese Embassy In Bangladesh Issues Warning
