Chinese engineer ‘marries’ robot and plans to start mass production of that model


Chinese engineer Zheng Jiajia designed, created and "married" a "female" robot he built after failing to find a human spouse.The engineer announced that he plans to start mass production of his bride robot's model in his statement to local media.

Zheng Jiaja, 31, and his creation which he named Yingying, wed in a simple ceremony in Hangzhou, the capital city of the Zhejiang province, according to local media reports.

The robot can identify Chinese characters and images and even say a few simple words, the report said.

Zheng had reportedly become tired of family pressure to marry, so he decided to get "married" with a robot he built himself.

Yingying wore a black suit with a red scarf over "her" head during the ceremony, a traditional Chinese wedding ritual.

Zheng Jiaja's family and friends also attended the wedding ceremony.

China has one of the worst gender gaps in the world. After the introduction of the country's widely-criticized one-child policy which for decades controlled how many children each family could have, sex-selective abortions became widespread, tipping gender ratios, according to the Guardian.

There are 113.5 men for every 100 women in China, according to the latest figures published by the World Economic Forum. The gender imbalance, coupled with changing attitudes towards marriage among the country's middle class, means many men may never find wives.