China's Online Dating Market Booms

SAPA-AFP - July 31 - Revenues from China's online dating market are forecast to top 2 billion yuan ($315M) in 2014 as work-stressed Chinese struggle to find partners. The industry, which is dominated by three players -- zhenai.com, baihe.com and Nasdaq-listed jiayuan.com -- has benefited hugely from endorsements on popular television dating shows. Jiayuan.com claims 63M members and Zhenai.com claims 40M, while Baihe.com has ~39M users. There is even a new phrase "Sheng Nu", or "Unwanted Girls", for well-educated and financially independent women who remain single. The term, which is unique to China and which only applies to women, appears in the nation's official dictionary and refers to "all single woman above the age of 27".