Creative photo shows a man standing in front of a green board that has the word of Fund. Photo: IC

"Location Beijing, engineering course masters degree, a liquor-type girlfriend," reads a post from a 27-year-old netizen on a Chinese financial investment forum who is looking for a partner with the same financial interests as her, investing in the liquor section.

She is not the only young Chinese who has turned to financial investment forums to look for love. In fact, comments like hers on platforms such as Alipay's funds discussion forum are common and take many forms. Some Chinese post the financial sectors they are most interested in to attract like-minded potential love interests, some show off their gains to capture people's attention and some others act as free financial consultants. 

"These are 100 percent real persons. There are no registration fees and it screens out those who are under-educated, do not know how to use a cell phone, have no income, or lack a sense of financial management. The people there share similar interests and meet the basic qualities that I'm looking for in a partner," said one netizen. 

The decision of young Chinese to merge financial investments and their love life together has become a trending topic on China's Twitter-like Sina Weibo, stirring up various discussions among netizens. 

While some netizens have commented that they intend to try this new trend out, some who were already taking part expressed some embarrassment over having their "secret" exposed to the public. "I never thought that one day I would be trending on Sina Weibo because I was looking for a girlfriend on Alipay. Sad," wrote one. 

"I might actually end up dating my colleagues since, as far as I know, there are a lot of them also posting their info on Alipay's discussion area," joked another.

"Many friends my age have also started to plan on investing," said one 21-year-old millennial on Sina Weibo. 

Some netizens praised these young people's good sense of financial management, "I'm impressed by their FQ [Financial Quotient]" or expressed surprise at their ability to turn investment yields into an advantage that can increase their competitiveness in the dating field. 

As more and more younger people joined the trend, Alipay issued an official response on February 16 warning people to learn how to indentify risks and to keep a rational mind when it comes to both financial investments and blind dates. 

"I'm interested in finance, and I would like to try such way to date. It's exciting and, plus, you know you two have similar interests," a 25-year-old single man living in Chongqing told the Global Times on Monday. 

"I think it is a half joke and half serious thing. Getting to know some like-minded friends is cool, but for starting a new relationship, I think there is more to see than just one's financial capabilities," a 28-year-old woman living in Beijing told the Global Times on Monday.