Not almost, there are whooping 48 or 49 naturalized Chinese citizens who got citizenship through means other than marriage since the naturalization law was introduced 1998
Not so surprising to me. The 1000s people plan and its version for younger people ("young 1000s") have been there for years actually. The reward is much more than what's listed in the surface. You can earn super high social status and chances to get tons of privileges.
One possible reason is they want to keep earning report looking good (or maintain a so-called "fast growth" because the bubble is too big. Believe it or not, China has everything to fill your tech bubble despite some restrictions.