China Launches State-Sponsored Dating App To Help Singles Find Their Match

Hours, days, and months of swiping on dating applications can get tiring. But what if local authorities had a way to help residents find the perfect match for a “happily ever after”?

That’s what one city in Jiangxi, a province in Eastern China, has tried to do with its very own state-sponsored matchmaking service. Known as Guixi, the region houses an estimated 640,000 residents.

According to the state newspaper China Youth Daily, those living in the area can now log onto the ‘Palm Guixi’ platform to sign up for blind dates as part of a province-wide plan to boost its marriage rate, which has been falling across the country in recent years.

If a Jiangxi resident prefers meeting his or her soulmate the old-fashioned way, the government can help too, as local officials have begun organizing in-person get-togethers so singles can mingle with one another.

For example, as per The Guardian, 100 young people in Gao’an City attended an event at a park where they dressed up in traditional clothes, played games, and looked for love while experiencing “the profoundness of Chinese culture.”

Aside from wanting more marriages to take place, Jiangxi authorities hope its initiative will help quell the traditional practice of grooms offering cash dowries to brides, which has officially been prohibited in the nation.

Last year, the province topped an unofficial chart of “bride prices”—or how much money the groom shells out to marry his bride—across China, with each man footing an average of 380,000 yuan (US$55,729) to get hitched.

As per Dao Insights, citizens have had mixed responses to the push, with many comments on the Chinese social media platform Weibo saying the project was a way for the government to boost the country’s declining population and birth rate.

[via The Guardian and Dao Insights, cover image via Tero Vesalainen | Dreamstime.com]