Somewhere along the way, the term leftover woman was coined to refer to single, well-educated, older urban women who are under great pressure to find a mate. The average age at which Chinese women marry is indeed rising. In Shanghai, the number has increased from 29 in 2007 to 30.3 in 2013. Marriage rates drop sharply after women turn 30, but by the age of 35, more than 90 percent of Chinese women are married and there are not many leftover women. The phenomenon of leftover women in China is not as serious as it might seem.
The statement 'The idea that women should marry men better than themselves has had an effect on the best women' is not a cause of the leftover women phenomenon in China.