Podcast appearances · Radar

Liu Jieyu

Professor of Sociology and China Studies at SOAS University of London; co-editor of The China Quarterly; research focus on family, gender, and social change in contemporary China

1

APPEARANCES

1

PODCASTS

Jul 2, 2026

China In Context

China In Context

Family and Relationship Trends in China — Across generations, across the urban-rural divide

Jul 2 · 41m

Duncan HewittHOST

17:16

In other words, the parents wouldn't want their children to marry someone from a rural background if they were an urban child or something like that?

17:24

Yes, definitely.

17:25

There is a very strong tendency to marry someone from a family, from compatible backgrounds, and also for women.

17:33

There is a very gendered, this kind of mobility pattern is kind of hypergamy.

17:38

So women tend to marry someone of the same social status or marry up.

17:43

So this is the expectation in Chinese families.

17:46

There are very small group of people who marry someone from a rural background.

9 MINS LATER

Duncan HewittHOST

26:33

You say that this has very much favoured men, as you put it, and also favoured a privileged elite.