Relationship company makes huge profit from singles

Dating and relationship companies can earn as much as 2 million yuan ($300,000) in profit a year in Chengdu, the capital of Southwest China's Sichuan Province, local media reported.

Li, the general manager of a company that specializes in relationships, said he established the company after experiencing his own personal setbacks, and wanted to help young white collars as well as college students overcome difficulties falling in love.

The company mainly used messenger software and Internet forums to publish information about blind date activities and then touted training courses to single men and women.

Li said most of the clients are men who have communication problems online, such as a lack of skills in how to approach someone they are attracted to.

The regular training courses are usually offered online and take about one hour a day at 1,200 yuan for a year's course. The cost of face-to-face coaching programs can vary from 1,200 yuan for three days to up to 15,000 yuan, ending with a guaranteed relationship.

Relationship training programs on the Internet offer a wide range of services, from sharing appearance and dress tips, to finding boyfriends or girlfriends, and repairing broken relationships.

A man of the post-1990 generation spent 7,000 yuan on a seven-day program called "Picking up a girl step by step".

Li's company is said to make a profit of 2 million yuan a year.

But Zhang Qiang, the founder of a relationship workshop, said love requires more than skills, and some programs teach men to take advantage of women's weaknesses.

Another marriage counselor Guo Nan also warned against turning relationship development into a kind of fast-food production.