China's Singleton Population Brings Boom in Lonely Economy
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The growing number of single people in China has led to the creation of the "lonely economy," providing business opportunities for retailers and service providers offering personalized products and services for one person.
随着中国单身人士的不断增多，“单身经济”应运而生，为零售商和服务商带来了为单人提供个性化产品和服务的商机。
Many business models catering to single people are springing up in metropolises such as Shanghai. From restaurants and supermarkets, to karaoke and home appliances, both retailers and services providers are launching products and services tailored for solo consumers.
许多迎合单身人士的商业模式正在上海这样的大都市如雨后春笋般出现。从餐馆、超市到卡拉OK、家用电器，零售商和服务提供商都在推出针对单人消费者的产品和服务。
A Japanese style roast-eel-with-rice restaurant on Yuyuan Road in Shanghai is a typical example. Although the restaurant only sells one kind of roast eel set meal, that has not stopped it from becoming famous online and a hit with solo diners.
上海愚园路有一家日式烤鳗鱼饭的餐厅就是一个典型迎合单身人士的例子。尽管这家餐厅只售卖一种烤鳗鱼套餐，但这丝毫不影响它在网上走红，成了单身就餐者的心头好。
According to Weng Wenying, manager of the restaurant, before it sold roast eel, the restaurant used to be a sushi bar. When the restaurant's business expanded and the owner opened more branches with more spacious dining areas around Shanghai, the branch on Yuyuan Road gave up selling sushi. "The owner of the restaurant had spent many years in Japan where solo dining is quite common, so she thought of changing the sushi shop into a solo-dining restaurant," Weng said.
据餐厅经理翁文颖介绍，在卖烤鳗鱼饭前，这里曾是一家寿司店。随着寿司生意的扩张，老板又在上海周边开了几家就餐区域更宽敞的分店，而愚园路店就没再售卖寿司了。翁表示：老板曾在日本生活过多年，发现在日本单身就餐现象很普遍，于是她就决定将寿司餐厅改为单身人士餐厅了。
Singletons spend more
单身人士消费更高
According to a recent report, a survey shows 57.69 percent of single people will spend money to dispel loneliness and only 15.68 percent are unwilling to do so. Another survey shows that 75 percent of single people will spend at least 1,000 yuan per month to dispel loneliness.
根据最近的一份调查显示，57.69%的单身人士愿意会花钱排遣寂寞，只有15.68%的不愿意这样做。另一项调查显示，有75%的单身人士每月会花费至少1000元来排遣寂寞。
According to an economic analysis report issued by Sinolink Securities, most single young people have not reached the stage where they are buying properties or vehicles, so they have little concept of saving.
据国联证券发布的经济分析报告显示，大多数单身青年都没到买房买车的阶段，所以他们基本也没有存钱的想法。
Contrary to expectation, single adults prefer not to spend time with other single friends, but would rather spend their spare time alone.
与预期相反的是，比起与其他单身朋友共处，单身的成年人更喜欢独自享受空闲时间。
New business opportunities
新的商机
While single people don't appear to want to spend time with each other, many of them like to keep pets for company. According to the Sinolink Securities report, more than 70 percent of young people born in the 1980s and 1990s keep pets. Most of these young people are single, and see pets as their family.
虽然单身人士似乎不想花时间相互陪伴，但他们中的许多人喜欢养养宠物作伴。据国联证券发布的报告显示，80后和90后养宠物的比例超过了70%。这些年轻人大多是单身，把宠物视为他们的家人。
Ding, a 40-year-old single woman, has been raising two pet cats for many years. Usually, she spends her weekends playing with her cats or taking them to the pet grooming shop. Her spending on her pets makes up a large part of her daily expenditure.
40岁的单身丁女士已养了两只宠物猫多年。她会在周末和她的猫玩耍，或带它们去宠物美容店。她在宠物上的花费占她日常开支的很大一部分。
With a growing population that lives alone in China, people's consumption habits have become more personalized, private and geared toward convenience and pleasing themselves. As a result, products and services catering to single people such as mini home appliances, shared KTV and mini gyms are emerging as new business models aiming to attract single adults. While some of them may have good prospects, others may not.
随着中国独居人口的增加，人们的消费习惯也变得越来越个性化、私密化，并且以方便和取悦自己为导向。因此，迎合单身人士的产品和服务也越来越多，比如迷你家电，共享KTV和迷你健身房，正发展成为一种新的商业模式，目的就是为了吸引单身成年人。这其中一些可能有很好的前景，但有的可能并不乐观。
Take karaoke service providers, shared mini KTVs and mobile karaoke apps for example. Qin, who is 40 and single, says he would not use shared KTV to kill time even if he feels lonely.
以卡拉OK服务提供商、共享迷你KTV和移动卡拉OK应用程序为例。今年40岁的单身秦先生说，即使他感到寂寞，他也不会用共享KTV来打发时间。
"Singing karaoke should be a group activity, in my mind. Singing alone at the mini KTV in a shopping mall would feel awkward. If I do want to sing alone, I would rather use a karaoke mobile app, which is more convenient and economical," Qin said.
秦先生说：“在我看来，K歌应该是一项集体活动。独自一人在购物中心的迷你KTV里唱歌会觉得很尴尬。如果我真的想一个人唱歌，我宁愿在手机上用app唱，这样还更方便省钱。”
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