During the pandemic, Kathy Zhuo and her husband were forced to take a 50% pay cut. It was a huge blow because she also had to take care of her mother, who was diagnosed with cancer five years ago.

“We barely had money left each year. I felt insecure but didn’t know what to do,” says the 36-year-old mother of two, who lives in Fujian, a city in southern China.

The shock to her family’s finances prompted Ms Zhuo to join the trend of young Chinese people seeking partners – or da zi – with similar interests online. But instead of travelling or exercising together, she has teamed up with people who want to save money.

The hashtag “saving da zi” first emerged on Xiaohongshu, China’s version of Instagram, in February 2023. It has attracted 1.7 million views so far, according to data analysis firm Newsrank. On Weibo, topics about so-called saving partners have been viewed millions of times.

The trend shows a “low confidence in the future economy”, says Lu Xi, a public policy professor at the National University of Singapore. Even though the Chinese economy grew faster than expected in the first quarter, it still faces a deepening property crisis, falling foreign investment and mounting local government debts.

Ms Zhuo feels lucky that she is working in the clean energy sector, an expanding industry which is estimated to have contributed around 40% of the country’s economic growth last year. However, she feels driven to “prepare for danger” as many of her friends and family are losing their jobs.

In February this year, Ms Zhuo joined several online saving groups, with most members being women aged between 20 and 40. Every day, they log their budget and expenses. They also help to stop each other from making impulse purchases.

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