Only in China. A lovelorn and romantically unlucky Chinese scientist whose chosen field of study is artificial intelligence (AI) gave up on finding the right girl for his wife to "marry" a female robot he created.

Zheng Jiajia, 31, from the city of Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, in late 2016 created a "female" robot he named "Yingying."

He taught his female robot to identify Chinese characters and images and say a few simple Chinese words. Yingying can't walk and her limbs can't move independently. She's basically a human-looking statue that shows some signs of artificial intelligence.

Zheng's "relationship" with Yingying would have remained purely professional and non-romantic if Zheng had been able to find a girlfriend, said one of Zheng's friends.

China is a lonely place for bachelors looking for brides because of a massive gender gap between males and females. China's much maligned one child policy caused a surfeit of boys, many of whom are having a tough time finding wives.

The gender gap in China in 2015 stood at 113.5 boys for every 100 girls, meaning that 13 men have really poor chances of marrying. By 2020, it's estimated there will be 30 million more Chinese men than women looking for a partner.

Zheng appeared to be one of the unlucky ones until he took the brave step of marrying Yingying, no permission needed.

He "married" his metallic bride on March 31 witnessed by his mother and a few close friends.

Yingying wore a black suit on the wedding , and her head was covered with a red scarf during the ceremony, a traditional Chinese wedding ritual.

Zheng plans to upgrade his robot "wife" to enable her to walk and help out with household chores.

And as for a "baby," Zheng can build one, too. Sex is an unanswered question.