Marrying a woman from outside the county will be rewarded with thousands of yuan from the local government to encourage more men in Yaolu county, Guizhou province, to find wives outside the area, Chongqing Evening News reported on Nov 17.

Yaolu, home to 1,520 ethnic Yao people, recently has witnessed more and more local women marrying outside the area, leading to an increase in the number of single men.

About half of the area's young women have married non-locals in recent years. That has in turn led to fewer children being born there, prompting the primary school to stop recruiting new students in 2009.

This situation has resulted in the local government to offer rewards to men marrying women outside the county, with up to 3,000 yuan ($452), which is 1.5 times the average personal annual income there.

This policy has been effective since Oct 1, 2009, and offers 3,000 yuan to each of the first five couples, 2,000 yuan to the next five couples, and 1,000 yuan for the next five couples. So far, three couples have received the reward money.

Qin Mengjiao, an official in charge of the county's population and family planning affairs, said, "That money will help the bridegroom pay the betrothal gifts and could promote more couples here."