Finding a long-term partner through dating apps can be exhausting, especially when users have to sort through countless profiles and conversations that rarely lead anywhere. One dating platform in China, called Liangpei, is trying a different approach by using artificial intelligence to find compatible partners, but its biggest selling point comes with an unusual promise: users will get married within three years or receive their money back, according to Sixth Tone.
Liangpei, which roughly translates to “good match,” charges a one-time fee of 2,000 yuan, or approximately $275. According to the outlet, its developers promise to refund the payment if users fail to get married within three years of joining the service.
The platform launched in July as China’s marriage rates continued to decline. Citing the data from data released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs, The News reported that marriage registrations for the first nine months of the 2026 dropped to 4.65 million couples down 9.8% or about 504,000 couples compared to the same period in 2025. Liangpei’s developers believe AI could help address some of the difficulties people face when searching for serious relationships.
You have to answer 25 questions
Unlike conventional dating apps that primarily rely on photographs, age, occupation, and location, Liangpei begins with a roughly 20-minute conversation with an AI matchmaker. Users answer 25 questions about their relationship histories, marriage expectations, and even whether they plan to purchase property.
The system uses these responses to build detailed profiles, calculate compatibility scores, and recommend potential partners. Founder Zeng Xinxun, 32, previously worked on AI search technology at Kimi, one of China’s prominent generative AI platforms. He now leads an 18-person team developing Liangpei’s matchmaking technology.
Zeng told Sixth Tone that approximately 91% of users who begin the interview complete it. Their resulting profiles average 516 Chinese characters, around four times longer than those found on several established Chinese dating platforms.
The app also takes an unusual approach to communication. Once two users match, they can speak exclusively to each other until one decides to move on. The idea is to prevent people from constantly browsing other profiles while getting to know a potential partner.
According to Zeng, around one in 10 users has reached an exclusive match. These conversations last more than 10 days on average and involve over 200 messages. “We want to get the users off the platform as soon as possible,” he told the outlet.
However, the arrangement has its drawbacks. One Shanghai-based user, identified only by her surname Wang, shared that she appreciated having fewer distractions but sometimes found herself waiting for the other person to keep the conversation going. Once matched, users essentially have their slots locked until someone decides to end the interaction. “If the other person isn’t proactive, you’re left waiting with nowhere for the conversation to go,” she said.
Liangpei has reportedly attracted more than 9,300 active users across 300 Chinese cities. Men account for 57% of its user base, while women make up the remaining 43%. Most users fall into the 26-to-31 age range.
The company has also introduced identity verification measures, including real-name registration, marital status checks, and live photo verification. Zeng said the platform has blocked 487 people discovered to be already married. Its AI system also monitors conversations for potential signs of fraud.
Despite these precautions, the platform has received mixed reactions online. Some users on Xiaohongshu, also known as RedNote, welcomed the idea of a dating service focused on marriage. Others questioned whether assigning compatibility scores could make people overly selective or turn finding a spouse into a rigid process.
The app’s free version also limits users to sending one “like” per day, adding another restriction to the matchmaking experience. His team also interviewed 150 couples obtaining marriage licenses in Shenzhen. According to Zeng, more than 70% said they had married within three years of meeting. That finding helped the company settle on its three-year deadline.
The platform has only been operating for a few months, meaning none of its users have reached the end of the guarantee period yet. Sociologist Du Shichao, an assistant professor at Shanghai’s Fudan University, said the service could appeal to people who already know they want marriage and appreciate more detailed matchmaking. However, he cautioned against allowing AI to replace genuine emotional connections.
A 2017 study published in Psychological Science examined whether machine learning could predict romantic desire using information about people’s traits and partner preferences. Researchers analyzed data from two speed-dating studies and found that their models could not predict which specific individuals would feel attracted to each other. The findings suggest that some aspects of romantic compatibility only become apparent through actual interactions, rather than information collected before a first meeting
Published: Nov 10, 2026 08:30 am