China’s single population is increasingly turning to various forms of paid companionship – from chatting with strangers online to virtual role-playing games. - Photo: AFP
BEIJING: In China, young people are increasingly using social media to not only connect with friends, but to pay strangers to talk with them.
As society becomes more atomised, users on the social platform Xiaohongshu have begun using the hashtag “companion chat” to find others willing to buy or sell a few minutes of human conversation.
“Is anyone available to chat? I’ll pay whatever it takes,” read one recent post tagged with the hashtag. Within hours, the user had received dozens of replies from people offering their services.
The hashtag has racked up millions of views over the past couple of years, reflecting Chinese consumers’ growing willingness to spend money to stave off loneliness – part of a broader rise in what has been dubbed “emotional consumption”.
As the country’s single population skyrockets, more are turning to various forms of paid companionship – from chatting with strangers online to virtual role-playing games.
This burgeoning companionship economy is a “response to China’s changing demographics”, said Wang Pan, an associate professor in Chinese and Asian studies at the University of New South Wales, and the author of Love and Marriage in Globalizing China.
According to China’s most recent census, the number of unmarried people between the ages of 20 and 49 in the country reached 134 million in 2020 – more than the entire population of Japan.
China’s marriage registrations have fallen by nearly half over the past decade, with only 4.75 million couples tying the knot during the first three quarters of this year, a historic low, according to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
That has opened the door for a growing companionship industry, which runs the gamut from chatbots powered by artificial intelligence (AI) to human cosplayers offering to meet in person for a fee.
“China has become increasingly lonely, so people have a strong desire for love, intimacy and closeness,” Wang said. “This created a space for the growth of [the companionship] business. Plus, it’s a profitable business.”
Back in 2019, before the pandemic and prior to China’s housing crisis and consumption decline, a report by Sinolink Securities predicted that China’s companionship economy would be worth up to 50 billion yuan (US$6.9 billion) by 2025.
While a more recent prediction was not available, it is possible the figure could be much higher, particularly given demographic changes that have had outsized impacts on China’s economy, such as a rising inclination among young adults to avoid marriage and having children.
Today, one of the most lucrative segments of this emerging companionship-business sector is otome video games – largely played on mobile devices – which offer interactive, story-driven experiences in which players take on the role of a protagonist navigating romantic relationships.
Originally from Japan, otome games exploded in popularity in China following the breakout success of Love and Producer, created by the Chinese developer Papergames, in 2017.
The otome genre has since become a staple of China’s gaming industry, with major developers including Tencent, NetEase Games and miHoYo rushing to release their own titles.
When Papergames released its latest otome offering, Love and Deepspace, in January, it generated more than 500 million yuan in the China market within a month, according to local media reports.
The games typically appeal to younger people who are tech-savvy but lonely, according to the Sinolink Securities report. They often develop powerful feelings toward the in-game characters, and at times may even feel that these virtual relationships are more meaningful than those they have in real life.
And in the last couple of years, amid the massive leaps made in advanced generative AI, chatbots with customisable personalities have emerged as an increasingly popular outlet for young Chinese seeking digital companionship, providing more humanlike digital interactions than chatbots ever offered before.
“Through these digital technologies, they can immerse themselves in their imagined fantasies and love to form relationships with these characters,” Wang said.
And big businesses are not alone in profiting from China’s lonely hearts; an informal economy of individuals offering paid companionship is also developing.
Li Shuying, an 18-year-old student, recently posted an ad on Xiaohongshu saying she was available for such chats.
“I just want to earn money,” she said. “I think this is the easiest and least troublesome job out there.”
On Xiaohongshu, users offering companion chats typically charge anywhere from 8 yuan to more than 50 yuan for a 30-minute conversation. Li, with free time on her hands, has pitched herself at the lower end of the market.
She has already received several inquiries. Most came from men, but Li also chatted with a teenage girl who wanted to vent frustrations about her classmates.
Many of the requests carried romantic undertones, Li said, but some clients were simply looking for some friendly company.
For Wang, the popularity of companion chats reflects a growing disconnectedness in Chinese society, which could exacerbate the loneliness crisis.
“Relationships have become more diverse, more fluid, and increasingly commercialised,” she said.
As a result, the companionship economy is likely to continue flourishing in China for some time to come, especially if marriage rates remain on a downward trajectory, Wang predicted.
“It’s an opportunity for businesses to capitalise on singles and those who feel lonely and need a companion,” she said. “More products and services will be developed to cater to the needs of the new demographics.” - South China Morning Post
