From Overseas Press

Online dating: A new craze sweeping China

(chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2011-04-29 15:01

Participants talk to each other during a matchmaking event to look for potential partners at Ditan Park in Beijing February 4, 2011. [Photo/Agencies]

Onling dating is a new craze sweeping China, as millions of Chinese people are turning to online dating as a solution to relationship woes in a society where the social pressure to find a partner can be oppressive, said an article on Time.com on April 25.

It also said, "According to research by the National Women's Union and Jiayuan's competitor Baihe.com, China currently has 180 million bachelors, up to half of whom are thought to be looking for love online. And after three decades of the 'one child policy', a societal bias toward male progenies has meant that for every 100 females there are 119.45 males, an imbalance that is driving competition for partners among males. According to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, by 2020 there will be 24 million more men of marriage age than women."

Another reason attributed to the new craze is that Chinese singletons are being pressured by their parents who commonly expect their sons or daughters to be married by the time they're 30.

Due to the dating pressure, millions of China's singletons log on to dating websites to find love, particularly men, which has been driving a major boom in the online dating business. By Jan, 2011, there are three main stream on-line dating websites: Jiayuan.com with 32 million registered members, Baihe.com and Zhenai.com with 26 million members each, which all together account for nearly half of singletons in China, said an article in zgjjzk.cn. According to Time.com, it's estimated that online dating sites attracted 3 million paying customers in 2010, who collectively spent more than $150 million.