Wanted: older men for young women

Most young women in China would prefer to date men 10 years older than themselves, a nationwide survey has found.

They told researchers they preferred older men because they were more attractive, wealthier and better able to take care of them.

According to the survey of 98,000 men and women across the country, 70 percent of women aged between 18 and 25 preferred older men. Of those, about 64 percent were hoping to have older boyfriends, 17 percent had dated older men and the rest expressed a preference for older men over men their own age.

However, the women were concerned that such relationships might not please their parents and that an older man might have a family already or could be too mature for them to handle.

According to the survey, published by the Training and Communication Center of the National Population and Family planning Commission, together with Beijing-based wedding website jiayuan.com, the country has 249 million unmarried adults.

A nationwide census report in November 2010 showed that nearly 12 million men aged 30 to 39 were single and hoping to marry younger women.

The survey also found that both men and women were becoming more open-minded about sex with virginity unimportant in a future spouse.

Some 84 percent of men and 73 percent of women said they didn't care whether their future spouse was a virgin or not.

But when it came to living together, 86 percent of men were happy with idea of living together before marriage, compared to 36 percent of women.