Romance Blooms in Love21cn and Sina Partnership

INTERFAX -- May 23 -- Chinese online matchmaking service provider Love21cn.com (5 million registered) will partner with Sina's friends-making channel to integrate resources and expand businesses. Established in October 2003, Love21cn.com was one of the earliest matchmaking service providers in China and received a RMB 40 million ($5.2 million) investment last month from founders of Nasdaq-listed language school New Oriental Education and Technology Group to support its business expansion. “One of the challenges for running a Web site is to ensure the credibility of the information users provide," said Gong Haiyan, the Founder. "We have been very careful and have put a lot of effort into developing the user identity management system of our Web site. Users can file a complaint if they find someone submitting false information and we will block him or her from using our services." Revenue of China's online matchmaking market is expected to reach RMB 653 million ($85.4 million) by 2008, with an average annual growth of 106% (iResearch).