An emerging industry targeting lovelorn members of Gen Z has taken off in China, allowing people to randomly purchase the social media contacts of a potential partner for just 1 yuan.
Dating blind boxes first appeared at night markets in some major Chinese cities several months ago, with stall owners presenting two boxes, one for males and another for females.
Customers pay to get a WeChat account number from one box or leave his or her number. Having obtained the contacts of WeChat, the most widely used social media app in China, people can get in touch with the owner of the WeChat account and try blind dating, according to the report.
“After leaving my contacts in the box, I am curious who will pick me up. The whole process is like opening a blind box. It is so stimulating,” one person, whose gender was not released.
Yan Bing, director of Beijing-based Yuntong Law Firm, said since customers are willing to put their contacts in the box, there is no problem with stalls sharing their contacts with other customers.
“But if they leak that information for other purposes, like selling it to advertisement distributors, it is illegal,” said Yan.