Rich Chinese businessmen are paying thousands of pounds to go on 'wife tours' in Siberia in search of fair-skinned, blue-eyed brides due to a shortage of women in their home country.

Pictures from the upmarket singles tour look more like a stilted business meeting - but the Russian marriage agency behind the tours say it has had massive success in matching well-to-do men with local women.

At a recent session in Novosibirsk, Siberia's largest city, five Chinese bachelors attended a meeting arranged by Elena Suvorova, head of the marriage agency OCD Centre.

Rich Chinese businessmen are introduced to Siberian women by a marriage agency in a restaurant in the city of Novosibirsk

Rich Chinese businessmen are paying thousands of pounds to go on 'wife tours' in Siberia in search of fair-skinned, blue-eyed brides

There was supposed to be eight but three stayed in in Khabarovsk, where a previous meeting had been held, as they had already found partners to wed.

But not everyone can afford a costly single's tour and one Chinese man is shown on a video playing a doleful saxophone tune in the Russian border city of Blagoveshchensk, in the Far East of Russia, to attract attention from local women.

Unseen on the video but there was piece of paper by his feet has a handwritten note reading: 'Calm, balanced. Looking for a Russian girlfriend.'

China has 120 men for every 100 women, with 34 million more males than females.

Pictures from the upmarket singles tour look more like a stilted business meeting - but the Russian marriage agency behind the tours say it has had massive success in matching well-to-do men with local women

But in Russia there are 85 men for every 100 women, and at sessions on the popular singles tours, the Chinese businessmen are introduced to groups of 25 or so women, all under 35.

Ms Suvorova explained: 'For them, a Russian woman is like a present. Men want to get married, and are committed for serious relationships.

'All the girls who we invited are under 35-years-old. Initially, the men want to see brides with white skin and blue eyes.

'Funnily enough though, last year the girls who got into a relationship were brunettes with brown eyes.'

Not everyone can afford a costly single's tour and one Chinese man is shown on a video playing a doleful saxophone tune in Russia to try and attract women

Meanwhile the matchmaker also praised the 'quite successful' Chinese men for their attitude towards the women.

She told the Siberian Times: 'Chinese men treat women with respect.

'It is important for them that the woman is moderate, natural, calm, smiling, and not competing with the man.'

She also claimed the men are serious and quickly fall in love with Siberian women.

She added: 'Last year we organised the first singles' tour when Chinese men visited Novosibirsk. There were six men and 25 girls.

The meetings of the men and women take place in the city of Novosibirsk. The matchmaker praised the 'quite successful' Chinese men for their attitude towards the women

'After a meeting in Novosibirsk, there were two couples. And three couples after a stopover in Krasnoyarsk.'

The sex imbalance in China has been blamed on the country's historic 'one child' policy which which led parents to abandon girls or use sex-selective abortion to guarantee a son.