By Gwurld4026 
Corporate Policy Shift: Marriage Deadline Withdrawn
In January 2025, Shuntian Chemical Group, a company based in Shandong province, China, issued a controversial policy mandating that single and divorced employees aged 28 to 58 must marry by September 30, 2025, or face termination. The policy stipulated that employees who remained unmarried by March were required to submit a self-criticism letter, and those still single by June would undergo an evaluation.
Failure to marry by the September deadline would result in dismissal. The company justified this directive by emphasizing traditional Chinese values such as loyalty and filial piety, criticizing single employees for “not responding to the national call” to marry and have children, and accusing them of being “disloyal and disobedient to parental advice.”
The policy faced immediate backlash on social media and drew the attention of local authorities. On February 13, officials from the local human resources and social security bureau inspected the company and pointed out that the policy violated Chinese labor laws. Consequently, Shuntian Chemical Group withdrew the policy the following day, acknowledging that some of the language used in the announcement was inappropriate.
This incident highlights the broader societal pressures in China to address declining marriage and birth rates. Recent data indicates a significant drop in marriage registrations, with only 4.747 million couples registering in the first nine months of 2024, a decrease of 943,000 from the previous year. In response, various measures have been proposed, including lowering the legal marriage age to 18 and offering financial incentives to encourage early marriages and childbirth.