Guangzhou has more than 200,000 people who are aged between 30 and 50 but are single, reports Guangzhou Daily.

Trades dominated by one sex have a higher ratio of single adults.

Men working for police, steelworks and shipping industries and women in service, medical and textile sectors have more difficulty in finding spouses, according to statistics from the Municipal Workers' Marriage Service Centre.

White-collar workers earning more than 4,000 yuan (US$482) a month are also more likely to remain single.

Li, director of the centre, believes many young people are too "picky" in seeking spouses.

Some 90 per cent of the single adults said they would rather not marry than compromising their standards, according to a survey of 300 by the Guangzhou Women's Federation.

Good personality is more valued than material possessions.

The qualities of being "kind-hearted", "dutiful to parents" and "considerate" are more often cited than career success as requirements for spouses.

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