BEIJING - Li Huijuan is a highly-educated woman who was born in Hunan province and works in Beijing. Her family is pushing her to get married because traditionally in China a woman is supposed to find a husband before she reaches 30. However, in big cities, such as Beijing and Shanghai, the average age for marriage has been postponed to 35 or 40 because of the fast pace of life and work.

Like most metropolitan women, because of her busy work schedule, Li doesn't have much time for meeting people and finding a boyfriend. "A few months ago, some of my co-workers encouraged me to register with an online matchmaking website to find a boyfriend," she said.

Although she is accustomed to using the Internet for online shopping and socializing, it was still a new experience for her to find romance on the Web. "I registered at night," Li said. "I was surprised to receive more than 10 messages the following morning."

Nowadays, the number of single men and women is a hot topic in China. The country has 180 million adults who are single and an increasing number of them are going online to find their "Mr or Mrs Right". According to a report released by the All-China Women's Federation and matchmaking website Jiayuan.com, 60 percent of single people have attempted to find a partner online.

The chief executive officer from one of China's three largest matchmaking websites, Gong Haiyan, found her husband through her own company.

When she was 27, Gong registered and became a member of two matchmaking websites. However, she found that the websites didn't provide the services she wanted. Afterward, she spent 1,000 yuan ($182) to register her own website, Jiayuan.com, which in Chinese means "good karma".

Gong graduated from Peking University with a degree in Chinese literature, so she posted a poem on the front page of her website. Her future husband, a member of the website, saw the poetry and was touched by her intelligence. Eventually, they became couple.

After finding her own happiness, Gong's aim now is to help more people to find happiness and love online. Her website has become the largest matchmaking website in China with 32 million subscribers.

Gong says her website is for "serious matchmaking". Every day she helps users solve their romance problems. Although she already has more than 400 employees, she still insists on personally replying to her subscribers' questions.

According to China Internet Network Information Center, China had more than 450 million Internet users as of the end of 2010 - more than any other country. Matchmaking websites see a good opportunity in the huge number.

Tian Fanjiang, CEO of matchmaking website Baihe.com, said in an earlier report that his website had a 100 percent growth rate in sales revenue from the first quarter of 2009 to the same period in 2010. "In 2010, we had 6 million new users, and online sales revenue hit 100 million yuan, up 10 times from the previous year," said Tian.

With an increasing number of Internet users, Li said the number of people who are using the Internet to find a boyfriend or a girlfriend is growing fast.

The annual VIP membership for a matchmaking website costs between 200 yuan to 300 yuan on average, according to Jiayuan.com. With about 15 percent of subscribers willing to pay for a VIP membership, the market has huge monetary potential in the future.