Robin, 19, spends hours talking to her boyfriend, who listens to every problem she encounters, as long as she pays him.

The medical school girl spent over 1,000 yuan (US $ 150) to chat with these virtual boyfriends. This boyfriend is responsible for calling Robin to wake up every morning to talk, then video chat.

"If someone is willing to accompany and talk, I'm willing to spend money," said Robin, who doesn't want to reveal her real name.

On-demand dating options are increasingly popular among middle-income young girls in China, because they still want to focus on their careers and have no plans to get married or get married right away.

Virtual boyfriend service shops can be found on Chinese messaging app WeChat or e-commerce sites like Taobao. Many people who make virtual boyfriends say most of their customers are single girls in their 20s with unstable income.

For a year, daytime, Zhuansun Xu was a foreign currency teller in Beijing, but in the evening, he chatted with female clients paying him to be his boyfriend. The girls come to Zhuansun for different needs, some want friendly advice, some prefer romantic actions.

"While interacting, I told myself that I really am her boyfriend, how I treat her well," he said. "But after finishing work, I will stop thinking about that."

The virtual boyfriend service costs from a few currencies for half an hour of texting, to a few thousand to have a caller chatting throughout the month.

"People have found a way to commercialize the sentiment," Chris K.K. Tan, an assistant professor at Nanjing University who is studying the phenomenon, said. "This is an unprecedented new type of woman in China."

Sandy To, a sociologist at the University of Hong Kong, said that traditionally, marriage is a must for women in China's patriarchal society. However, the one-child policy, introduced in 1979, created a more "resourceful and confident" generation of women.

Wishing to have a son, many families have abortion to choose the sex, making the percentage of men and women in China in 2018 the highest disparity in the world with 114 boys per 100 girls. For many women, this policy has changed the pattern of their families.

The parents of many girls "raise children as boys", said Roseann Lake, author of a book about single women in China. "Everything that traditionally you need in a man - a strong home, financial stability, they are nourished by that."

Lisa, a 28-year-old manager in Shanghai, hired "virtual boyfriends" to date via text message. "Of course, there are love feelings that make me feel like I'm in love," she said. "Because I'm just buying a service, I don't feel sorry for the real person."

In the 2018 World Economic Forum's global gender gap report, China ranked 103 out of 149 countries in the overall gender gap. However, the country has climbed to the 86th position in the rankings of women's economic opportunity and participation.

As economic conditions improved, fewer women wanted to get married. China's marriage rate has decreased in the past 5 years. Last year, the ratio was 7.2 per 1,000, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

When basic needs are met, women also find ways to satisfy their emotional needs. Busy life in big cities has left many women isolated. Most of them spend their teenage years studying for college entrance exams and do not have time to develop relationships outside of school. Hiring a virtual boyfriend is an opportunity for them to experience love and relationships, Mr. Tan said.

With Robin and Lisa, the virtual companions are attractive because the relationship is comfortable.

"If I am under psychological stress, it may cause some people to think that I am important in the matter," Robin said. "But because I paid my virtual boyfriend, they had to encourage me."