For millions of Chinese netizens, online matchmaking websites
have become their favorite way of finding marriage partners. In
China, about 10,000 men and women get to know each other through
online matchmaking companies every year. As these websites thrive,
online matchmaking has grown into a burgeoning business.
These days, more and more young people who have already passed
their normal age for marriage still remain single: Tian Fanjiang, a
graduate who had received his doctorate degree in computer science
at Tsinghua University, opened a matchmaking website. In less than
two years, his website, www.baihe.com, has developed into
the country's largest matchmaking website. Early this month, Tian
went to Shanghai with a low profile and declared that he would open
the company's first branch office in China's largest commercial
city.
When the website was just put to operation, it won the favor of
foreign investors who invested their money in the company to help
it grow quickly. Prompted by its success, more and more matchmaking
websites have emerged in China. To many young people who want to
enter IT industry, opening a matchmaking website now has become a
good way to start their business.
Now, Tian pays more attention to the development of
cyber-matchmaking industry in other Asian countries.
According to Tian, Chinese people share a lot of similarities
with people in Southeast Asia and those in Japan, South Korea and
India with respect to their marriage values and dating habits. In
these countries, every year the matchmaking industry can generate a
profit a dozen times that made in China. So China has a huge
potential market and the market will attract more people to come to
China in future.
A report recently predicts with optimism that in 2008, about 110
million Chinese people will try online communications in making
friends. The market can generate one billion yuan of business
revenues and matchmaking services might account for 70% of the
total business revenues.
(Chinanews, December 7, 2007)