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Capitalizing on love pays dividends

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-02-13 07:53

According to a report from Shanghai-based iResearch, the annual revenue in 2008 of the online dating market in China was estimated at 653 million yuan ($95.6 million).

However, not all of the companies made profits from the red-hot market, says Xu Bin, an analyst at iResearch.

Compared to the mature online dating companies abroad, for instance E-harmony and match.com, the Chinese online dating industry has been developing for just six or seven years.

The market needs more effective regulation, especially in eliminating unqualified players and frauds.

Most Chinese Internet users prefer free Internet services, though users only expect to find contact information on dating websites. The websites should create more value-added services to target different users, experts say.

Some industry insiders said they believed the global financial crisis had reduced overseas venture capital and the online dating market would lose some unqualified players.