A Chinese couple takes pictures of themselves as they sit at a shopping district in Beijing, China. (Photo : Getty Images)
American-born Chinese now tend to marry within their race due to China's improved global image and an increase in number of Chinese immigrants in the United States.
According to data released by the Pew Research Center in Feb. 2012, the number of US-born Asian-Americans who married someone of a different race dipped by close to 10 percent between 2008 and 2010.
China's economic growth vastly helped in globally improving the social status of Chinese that made them more attractive as romantic partners.
Mia Song, a 31-year-old American-born Chinese, said that she used to mostly date white men due to their higher social status and the perception that they are a wise choice for a partner.
But when the Chinese were no longer deemed less ideal partners than whites, Song began dating men from her race and eventually married one. Song also feels that choosing a Chinese for a husband is "such a good decision" as it helped her preserve her ethnic identity linguistically and culturally.
A New York Times article published in March 2012 attributed the surge in immigration from Asia in the past last three decades as responsible for the trend due to more choices for spouses among Asian-Americans. Furthermore, it is deemed advantageous to marry someone with whom one shares a common language and culture.
Chinese sociologist Liu Yun, who was part of a study on American-born Chinese marriages, said that more overseas Chinese began to favor having romantic partners from the same ethnicity when the Chinese were no longer considered inferior in many countries.
She also confirmed that the growth of the number of Chinese immigrants in the U.S., which increased by millions in recent decades, made dating a Chinese fellow a more practical option.
