LOVE21CN (www.love21cn.com), the most frequently visited serious dating Website in China, announced that it has received US$10 million in a financing deal from Qiming Venture Partners as it seeks to expand its online dating platform.

Founded by Gong Haiyan, a master of journalism from Fudan University and a bachelor in arts from Peking University, in October 2003, Love21cn has recently attracted funds worth 40 million yuan (US$5.2 million) from Qian Yongqiang, Xu Xiaoping, Wang Qiang who are three of the co-founders of education company New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc.

With 5.5 million registered members, the dating Website also appealed to Qiming, a leading venture capital firm in China.

"China's wedding and dating market has huge potential. People are willing to pay comparatively high price to enjoy a good dating product or service," said JP Gan, managing director of Qiming. "Before investing, we did a thorough due diligence on the industry, including a third-party market study. All statistics show that Love21cn has become a leading dating Website in terms of number of registered members and daily traffic."

Gong, Qian and Gan serve on the board of Love21cn now.