The number of new marriages recorded in China fell to a record low last year, despite sweeping government efforts to encourage young people to tie the knot and have babies to halt demographic decline in the world’s second-largest economy.

By Farah Master HONG KONG (Reuters) -Marriages in China plummetted by a fifth last year, the biggest drop on record, despite manifold efforts by authorities to encourage young couples to wed and have children to boost the country's declining population.

China last year saw a one-fifth decline in marriages, the latest sign of persistent demographic challenges as Beijing works to encourage births despite an uncertain economic outlook for young families.

Gov. Kathy Hochul announced a statewide ban of the Chinese artificial intelligence app DeepSeek on all government networks and devices Monday — fearing “foreign government surveillance.” The decision comes after Wall Street and Silicon Valley got clobbered over rising fears about DeepSeek – a Chinese artificial intelligence startup owned by High-Flyer,

New York State is prohibiting the China-based artificial intelligence application DeepSeek from government devices. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) announced on Monday state government employees

Governor Kathy Hochul has banned the use of China-owned AI, DeepSeek, on New York government devices due to surveillance concerns.