More than 200,000 professionals involved in China's marriage broking business will soon receive training and examination. The first experimental training class will be held in Shanghai at the end of this month. By the end of this year, the entire "National Marriage Broking Service standards" will be officially launched.

Wang Weiming, director general of the marriage broking committee of China Social Work Association, told reporters that the country's first marriage broking service standards are being promulgated and will classify professionals in the industry into five ranks, including senior marriage broker, marriage broker, assistant marriage broker and marriage broking member; all new opened marriage broking companies must have at least four professionally qualified marriage broking professionals before they can open for business.

At present, Shanghai has a minimum of a thousand "matchmaker" (marriage broking professionals). Due to their uneven qualifications, this group has to a certain extent set back the intense desire of singles to tie the knot.

Wang said that the soon-to-surface "marriage broking professional standards" will first set up qualification requirements for "matchmakers" with only those having five years or longer experience qualified to be called marriage broker and all must receive commensurate training, with the higher-ranked ones receiving the longer training time. Even the "most junior" marriage broking member must be trained in at least ten "classes."

At the end of this month, the third and fifth ranked marriage brokers will receive the initial batch of training. Besides the basic courses on marriage broking services, "matchmakers" must also be tutored in psychology and rites and rituals.
 
(China News Service June 23, 2006)