The number of Beijingers registering for marriage has been decreasing by nearly 2,000 couples a year for the past five years, reports Beijing Evening News.

According to the municipal civil affairs department, 84,000 couples registered for marriage in 1998, but in 2001 the number had dropped to 77,000.

Social psychologist He Liying said one of the major reasons was that young people were busier with higher education and career advancement these days, so many are postponing marriage into their 30s.

And as the social environment changes, many people are starting families without bothering to register for marriage.

In addition, the marriageable population is dwindling because many young people are "only children" as a result of the family-planning policy begun in the 1980s, said He.

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