He may be lonely, but Chen is far from alone in his struggle. For years, China has competed — and in many cases successfully surpassed — Japan in fields ranging from the size of its economy to sports. Now, it’s racing against its traditional rival in an arena unlikely to evoke as much pride as some of its other gains. China is emerging as the new capital of Asia’s loneliness economy, a position long held by Japan.





A joint study in 2017 by two Chinese companies — Momo, a dating app, and Xiaozhu, the country’s answer to Airbnb — found that 67 percent of 10,000 people interviewed under the age of 47 were watching TV or films to combat loneliness. In the survey, 58 percent of participants said they spend money in a bid to feel less lonely: 46 percent went to a bar, 4 out of 10 went to a gym and a quarter performed karaoke.





Chinese and foreign firms smell opportunity. Since 2015, China’s host of karaoke brands, led by Karaoke Television, have opened more than 20,000 minibooths catering to solo singers in supermarkets and shopping centers. Nov. 11, designated Singles Day in China, has emerged as an occasion for companies to target singletons with lucrative offers, similar to Black Friday in the U.S. Alibaba, the e-commerce platform, recorded $25 billion in sales on last year’s Singles Day, the world’s largest shopping value ever recorded in a day.



