A recent report has revealed that the traditional Chinese practice of families preferring boys over girls, has now started to show its effects, and has led to a major gender imbalance which could result in over a million men not being able to find spouses.

As per the study conducted by China's Academy of Social Sciences, the imbalance that is being anticipated means that over 24 million men looking to get married will not be able to find a wife by the time the year 2020 rolls in.

The study by the Government-supported academy has revealed that the situation among the country's newborns has been the most serious demographic problem for China's population of 1.3 billion.

"The problem is more serious in rural areas due to the lack of a social security system there. Aging farmers have to rely on their offspring", said researcher Wang Guangzhou, while stressing that both traditional fertility beliefs and prenatal sec selection have contributed to make the problem worse.

Worried experts are now urging the Government to take significant steps to combat the problem, and an important way can be the revision of China's one child norm.