A man in China has married his partner's corpse during her funeral to show his love for her after she lost her battle with breast cancer, The Daily Mail reports.

The heart-broken groom, 35-year-old Xu Shinan, hoped that the wedding ceremony could realise his late fiancée's dream of being a bride. 

Xu's deceased partner of 12 years, Yang Liu, was dressed in a white bridal gown and surrounded by 169 bouquets pink roses when Xu read his wedding vows to her, according to a local report.

The special ceremony took place on Saturday morning in the funeral parlour of Dalian in eastern China.

Yang died on October 14 at the age of 34 after battling with cancer for five and a half years.

Xu said he had stayed by the side of Yang's body 24 hours a day for seven days since her death, which is folklore in China to pay respect to the departed.

The couple's story was featured in a recent report by Dalian Evening News.

Xu and Yang got to know each other by having long chats through the internet and fell in love in August, 2007.  The couple registered their marriage in August, 2013, and started to prepare for their wedding. 

But their life was turned upside down three months later when Yang began to experience pain in her chest. The bride-to-be, 28 years old at the time, was diagnosed with breast cancer the following March.

In 2017, Yang's condition improved and the couple started to save money for a flat and prepare for their wedding again. Unfortunately, her cancer made a comeback a year later - before they could hold their nuptials.

She was knocked into a coma on October 6 and pronounced dead a week later. 'She couldn't even recognise me in the end and we didn't bid farewell,' the devastated man said.