A dating agency has witnessed a surge in interest after it shared the story of a female client from Jiangsu province in eastern China and her hunt for a Hong Kong civil servant husband.
According to the post on Xiaohongshu, the 33-year-old woman, who works for a Chinese company in Hong Kong, wanted a stable partner and believed that marrying a civil servant from the special administrative region would provide just that.
She eventually settled on an officer from the city’s Immigration Department and the pair plan to marry.
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The post highlighted the perceived stability and benefits of being a Hong Kong civil servant, including a good salary which increases annually, excellent living and education benefits, and the possibility of moving to disciplined services quarters after marriage.
It also noted that the woman’s partner had what was described as a “simple and clean social circle” and that his family were all civil servants, the same as that of the woman.
The initial Xiaohongshu post did not receive much attention, but following its reposting on a local Facebook group it was picked up by several local media outlets.
Tiffany Chan, founder of the dating agency, told the South China Morning Post that most of her clients come from the mainland’s “elite” and live and work in Hong Kong. They have specific criteria for their partners, including matching education, income, and family background.
She added that in the past most of her clients preferred to be matched with other Hong Kong drifters, but now many are open to falling in love with city natives.
Civil servants are particularly popular due to their perceived stability and benefits, she said, adding that civil servants prefer dating agencies to apps due to privacy concerns.
With the impending re-opening of the border between the mainland and Hong Kong, Chan expects to see an increase in demand for cross-border nuptials.
Xiaohongshu is a popular social media platform in mainland China, where the hashtag “Hong Kong Civil Servants” has 179,000 views and features content about the civil service examination.
Many bloggers on the platform portray the Hong Kong civil service as a promising career choice.
One of the most popular postings shared how the blogger passed the Common Recruitment Examination for Hong Kong civil service and was titled “The end of the universe is the civil service exam”.
This expression is also widely used to express Chinese young people’s desire to work for the government and secure a job for life, or what is colloquially known as the “iron rice bowl”.
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