Loneliness in China spurs growth of companionship economy

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

BEIJING — Undergraduate Xiaoyun, 20, spends her nights talking to strangers to hone her counselling skills and to earn some extra keep.

The psychology major at a university in south-western Sichuan province started working part-time as a “pei liao” – or conversation buddy – in April 2023, a few months after China abruptly lifted its strict Covid-19 restrictions in December 2022.

She chanced upon the part-time job online after she noticed that many people around her were losing sleep after China’s abrupt policy change towards the pandemic.

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The sudden lifting of restrictions had caused many of Miss Xiaoyun’s peers, who had started university life in a zero-Covid environment under the strict measures, to have difficulties adjusting to living with the Covid-19 virus, she told The Straits Times.

“I thought being a ‘pei liao’ was a good way to test out counselling theories I learnt in school and to practice having empathy,” she added. Miss Xiaoyun makes between 600 yuan (S$110) and 2,000 yuan a month, depending on the types of packages her clients sign up for. The amount excludes the 20 per cent the app she works for charges her.

Miss Xiaoyun is part of China’s growing “pei ban jing ji” or companionship economy that has developed due to the increasingly solitary lifestyles of the Chinese. It is estimated it will be worth 50 billion yuan by 2025, according to a report by state-owned investment firm Sinolink Securities.

The companionship economy has emerged as more people stay single, forgoing the traditional path of marriage and children, amid an economic slowdown and an increasingly educated population.

Over the last decade, the number of marriages in China has been on a downtrend from a peak of 13.47 million unions in 2013 to 6.84 million in 2022, barring an upturn of 12.4 per cent in 2023 as a result of a backlog owing to the pandemic.

China’s previous one-child policy has also led to younger generations of Chinese being dubbed “China’s lonely generation”.

On social media platform Xiaohongshu, posters are calling “loneliness” in the country the next big business opportunity.

The companionship economy, which includes shopping, chatting and gaming buddies, was first reported in the media as a rising trend in 2019, when the Sinolink report was published.

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It was in the spotlight in late 2023 when state media outlets Xinhua and People’s Daily reported on the need for professionalisation in the sector.

Mr. Zhang Yi, chief analyst at iiMedia Research Group in Guangzhou, which specializes in socioeconomic trends, said that many nascent fields that are part of China’s companionship economy have “vast potential to become more professional”.

For example, “pei gou” or shopping companions can become image consultants, and teach their clients to pick colors suitable for their skin tones and dress better.

“But the bedrock of this industry is about fulfilling emotional and psychological needs, as younger Chinese are not as concerned about physiological needs such as food and housing, compared with older generations,” he added.

“The rise of the companionship economy is a marker of China’s development, and demand will only grow as these younger Chinese get older,” he said.

Mr. Zhang predicts that more professional companions will be needed as the country ages, to accompany older Chinese for medical checks, including doctor visits and physiotherapy.

Apart from such activity companions, demand will also grow for “pei liao” as Chinese who stay single will need emotional support as they grow older.

This is because it has become the norm for younger generations to move away from their home towns to big, unfamiliar cities, where they do not have strong social support, Mr. Zhang said.

A check on China’s search engine Baidu showed at least 20 apps providing companionship services, with most of the platforms offering gaming and chatting buddies, such as Mitangpeiliao, Uki and Lieyou.

Freelancers advertise their services on Douyin, China’s TikTok, and Xiaohongshu, with a companion who accompanies a client to see the doctor charging 200 yuan for half a day’s work.

The Sinolink report on the companionship economy found that young Chinese are used to living their lives online as they turn to apps for daily needs such as food, transport and grocery deliveries.

“It has also become natural for young Chinese to search online for company, activity buddies, or those who share similar hobbies with them,” said the authors of the report, which surveyed 76,728 respondents born between 1995 and 2005.

But there are concerns that there might be abuse of companionship services in China, where prostitution is illegal.

On Xianyu, a second-hand marketplace with 500 million users, those who searched for “pei ban jing ji” are redirected to a page that urges them to turn to professionals if they need someone to hear them out, or require image consultancy services.

“Companionship services contain serious safety risks, and to protect consumers, Xianyu has banned such listings from its app,” the page said.

The social stigma surrounding the sector, which has been labelled as a front for sexual services, has led to Miss Xiaoyun, the conversation companion, declining to give her full name to The Straits Times.

The people who have hired companions for gaming and chats have mixed reactions on the services.

Mr. He, 38, had in May 2023 hired a companion to play Honour Of Kings, a popular online game, out of curiosity.

The freelance graphic designer, who is based in Beijing, paid about 300 yuan for a two-hour gaming session.

“I didn’t continue after trying out the service because I didn’t feel like it made gaming more enjoyable for me,” he said.

Shop assistant Yang, 32, from Beijing, said he has spoken to a “pei liao” three times – whenever he gets insomnia – in the past half year.

“I really like speaking with my ‘pei liao’ because she is a stranger and doesn’t know me or my life,” said Mr Yang, who works at a hair salon. He spends about 35 yuan for a 30-minute chat.

Both Mr. Yang and Mr. He declined to give their full names because of the social stigma surrounding those who have used such services.

Mr. Yang said that “pei liao” is his escape from reality, and “for that brief moment, it’s really fun”.

“I feel less lonely being in a strange city,” said Mr. Yang, whose home town is Harbin in China’s northernmost Heilongjiang province. “I really see no harm in continuing, and I will definitely be using the service again,” he added.