For better or for worse: Couples preparing to get their photos taken during a wedding photography shoot on a street in Shanghai. — Reuters
Covid-19 wasn’t kind to wedding planners in China, where marriages are traditionally elaborate, expensive affairs, but the industry estimated at almost US$500bil (RM2.3 trillion) is now facing a bigger threat: a plunge in the number of couples willing to tie the knot.
The trend, which has become more obvious as the economy weakens and consumer confidence wanes, is also worrying officials trying to revive marriage, and birth, rates which dropped to record lows last year, leading to the first decline in population numbers in 60 years.
