(SINGAPORE 07.10.2025) Last year, China counted around 240 million singles, roughly one in six people. Among the 300 million Chinese aged 20 to 40, majority still feel strong social pressure to find a life partner. This rising demand has fuelled a boom in the matchmaking and dating industry, with one agency now seeking a stock market listing to capitalize on the trend, according to Chinese media.
The prospectus that matchmaker Milian Technology （米连科技） filed with the Hong Kong Stock Exchange shows its revenue climbed from 1.052 billion yuan (about S$191 million) in 2022 to 2.373 billion yuan in 2024, reaching 1.917 billion yuan in the first half of this year. Its gross profits also soared, rising from 470 million yuan in 2022 to 949 million yuan in the first half of 2025, with margins improving from 44.6% to 49.5%, reported PEdaily (投资界).
PEdaily is a Chinese financial media platform specializing in venture capital and private equity investments.
The prospectus shows that Milian runs two main social platforms — Yidui (伊对) and Tietie (贴贴). Launched in 2017 as the company’s flagship product, Yidui targets mainland Chinese users aged around 30. In the first half of this year, the app recorded 4.8 million active users each month, with each user spending a monthly average of 8 hours on the platform. Records also indicate that 72.1% of users returned to the app within a week.
Rolled out in 2022, Tietie is a voice social app aimed at mainland Chinese users aged 18 to 30 who want to connect and interact over shared interests. By the first half of this year, it averaged 1.7 million monthly active users, with a seven-day retention rate of 43%.
The company also runs multiple products for overseas markets — such as HiFami, Chatta, and Seeta — spanning Southeast Asia, the Middle East, North America, and South America. Its prospectus reports that 9.9 million users interact with Milian’s platforms at least once in a month while 2.1 million use its platforms every single day.
Also, the prospectus states that Milian generates nearly all its revenues from value-added services such as virtual items, interactive features, and membership subscriptions, all paid for by users with purchased tokens. By the first half of this year, the company recorded 1.2 million paying users per month.
Despite their strong revenues, China’s online dating platforms are vulnerable to scams and borderline contents. Several fraud cases in China have involved platforms like Yidui, underscoring its potential risks. Milian’s prospectus explicitly warns that “detection and filtering measures may not catch all inappropriate contents or fraudulent activities, nor could they fully guarantee such issues would not reoccur.”
As of now, Milian Technology’s shareholders include Bluechi Ventures, Xiaomi, XVC, Sky9 Capital, a fund affiliated with China’s flagship newspaper People’s Daily, and Guangyuan Capital, among others. At the time Milian disclosed its prospectus, a group of concerted actors, including the company’s founders Ren Zhe and Zhu Xiaopu, collectively held 63.15% of the its shares, making them the largest controlling party.
Milian’s growth mirrors China’s falling marriage rates. For instance, PEdaily observed, China’s National Day holiday, celebrated every year from October 1 to 7, has become a “matchmaking golden week” for young Chinese. Many returning to hometowns from work locations would face intense parental pressure to marry and are often arranged for blind dates. In smaller cities, cafés would bustle with young singles meeting potential partners.
At the same time, in larger cities, governments, communities, and businesses would organize varieties of dating events—social mixers, interactive mystery games, and interest-based meetups— to connect singles. Despite online chatters about young Chinese avoiding marriage, in reality many are taking full advantage of the “matchmaking golden week,” PEdaily noted.
Today, China’s post-’95 and post-’00 generations are entering marriageable age in large numbers. Having grown up amid unprecedented material wealth and information overload, they face new challenges: demanding jobs that leave little room for offline socializing; the internet has upended traditional views on love and marriage without offering clear alternatives; and the daunting high costs of marriage and raising children, PEdaily pointed out.
Platforms like Millian’s have emerged to provide offline matchmaking and dating services. Their offerings however come with hefty price tags, often costing thousands and sometimes over a hundred thousand. Yet they still appeal to the highly educated, high-earning individuals who are willing to pay more to find a stable partner.
Meanwhile, young Chinese also increasingly turn to the new wave of social platforms. Chat apps like Momo (陌陌) , Tantan (探探), and Soul, which emphasize “soulful” connections, have surged in popularity. In recent years, niche dating platforms targeting highly educated users, such as Qingteng Love (青藤之恋), have grown quickly, and major internet giants like Douyin and Kuaishou have also rolled out their own matchmaking features.
In Milian Technology’s prospectus, one figure is eye-catching: China’s online social and emotional networking market was valued at 22.6 billion yuan in 2024, accounting for 45.2% of the global total. With demand for emotional connections expected to remain strong, PEdaily forecasts the market will grow to 75.7 billion yuan by 2029.
“A huge market is taking shape, but today’s youth navigate a fragile balance — craving true love and independence while hesitating to conform to societal expectations and follow trends,” PEdaily remarked. “While torn between the pursuit of romance and the pressures of marriage, young single Chinese fuel demand for services like Milian’s.”
