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)