Unfortunately, Larry Wang was a shy-type, tortured by his secret love for a girl classmate and a lack of guts to ask for her hand.

But thanks to a local matrimonial agency, which compiled Larry's words of love into a CD and gave it to the girl together with a bouquet of roses, he may soon win her affection.

"She was moved to tears after hearing my confession and accepted me as her boyfriend," said Larry.

Larry is not the only guy benefiting from this love messenger service in the city of Changchun, capital of Northeast China's Jilin Province.

Five matrimonial agencies in the city are currently in operation and have reported good results in their trial runs.

"We have been receiving many calls for consultations since we opened the business, and we have already made several successful matches," said Cao Guang, president of Changchun Matrimonial Agency Association. "So if the business does well, we plan to expand to 20 matrimonial agencies and then transform into a matrimonial fixture," Cao said.

According to Cao, the appearance and popularity of the love messengers business reflect rising demand in the market.

"According to our survey, a large proportion of young people have difficulty expressing their love. First, many of them are too shy to express their love, and always regret when they miss the chance. Also, even for those brave enough, they can't express themselves properly and can't win the girls' hearts," said Cao.

Most of the customers are young men, he continued.

But the growing romance consultation industry has elicited a mixed response from local residents.

"I believe most girls are just like me always expecting a romantic love story. I think most of us would be moved if a boy surprised us with a confession of love," said Dong Jiaomei, a postgraduate student at Jilin University.

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