China’s latest population data reveals that despite the implementation of the "two child policy", the gender imbalance is a continuing social problem. There are 33.6 million more men than women in this country of 1.4 billion people, and among those born in the 1980's, the ratio of unmarried men to women indicates a severe gender imbalance. As of 2017, the market for silicone dolls was very large, and with a yearly growth rate of about 30%, the number of factories and suppliers is also steadily on the rise. Manufacturers hope to make dolls lifelike enough to cure loneliness among the country's huge unmarried population. As China economy rapidly diversifies, sexual subcultures are diversifying alongside. Among these, the diversification in the use of silicone sex dolls is apparent through the proliferation of Doll Mates groups on Chinese social media. In these groups, "Mates" exchange photos of the dolls, tips on how to use them, the defects of different brands, how to wash them, dress them and care for them. The Doll Mates market in China is segmented into three main groups: those who buy silicone dolls purely for sexual use, those who buy them because they want a life partner - someone to love and take care of without the economic and mental pressure of human-to-human relationships - and those who buy them to dress them up and take pictures for use on social media.