The opening may herald a new era of more broad services rather than the temporary and narrow ones in the past as well as a major shift in the function of marriage brokerage institutions, said Zhang Sulan, manager of the agency named "Matchmaking Supermarket."

Before receiving its first customers, the agency spent more than ten months for operational preparation and training of the staff. Single people can now, as a result, enjoy specially designed services geared for different relationship levels, said Zhang.

To ensure a successful dating relationship or even a marriage, the agency asks registrants to show a behavior certificate produced by the organization they belong to and to fill out a special form.

So far, over 3,000 single youths have registered and many of them are already in love or selecting a lucky wedding date, said Zhang.

As the country has opened up, more and more Chinese have adopted liberal views on marriage and young people are glad to accept more alternative ways to get to know each other.

Many single people consider a spouse selected with the help of a matchmaking agency more reliable and they can avoid wasting too much time, said Zhang.

(Xinhua News Agency February 9, 2003)