Executive Overview
In the fast-paced world of China’s app-driven sharing economy—where everything from bicycles and umbrellas to mobile phone chargers can be rented with a quick scan of a QR code—one company sought to push the boundaries of digital convenience into the deeply personal realm of intimacy. In September 2017, the Chinese tech firm Taqu (operating internationally as "Touch") launched a high-profile, highly controversial rental service for life-size, high-end silicone sex dolls. Billed romantically under the slogan "Shared girlfriend — your heartwarming companionship," the project promised to bring luxury intimacy to the masses for a daily fee of roughly $46.
However, the venture’s utopian promise of democratized pleasure collided violently with the realities of Chinese state censorship, public morality laws, and political sensitivity. Operating for a mere 48 hours, the "Girlfriend Sharing" project was abruptly shuttered after local law enforcement intervened, citing public vulgarity and regulatory violations. The company was slapped with a symbolic fine of 2,000 yuan ($340), forced to purge its app of the service, and compelled to issue a public apology on Chinese social media.
While the experiment was short-lived, it shone a glaring spotlight on several critical intersections in modern China: the booming market for alternative adult products, a deeply entrenched conservative sociopolitical establishment, and a staggering demographic crisis characterized by tens of millions of surplus single men. This report provides a comprehensive examination of the rise and fall of Taqu’s doll-rental service, analyzing the regulatory backlash, the technological and operational mechanics of the venture, and the broader socioeconomic pressures that continue to fuel China’s adult-tech sector.
Detailed Chronology: From Launch to Lockdown
The unfolding of the Taqu doll-rental saga reads like a masterclass in corporate overreach within a tightly controlled market. What follows is the chronological breakdown of a venture that captured global headlines before vanishing almost overnight.
Day One: The Launch and Immediate Buzz
On September 14, 2017, Taqu officially rolled out its "Girlfriend Sharing" feature via its mobile application, integrating the service into its existing ecosystem of sex-positive lifestyle products, which already served over 500,000 active users. The service allowed users living in major metropolitan areas to browse an online catalog of five distinct, premium silicone doll personas:
- The Greek Bikini Model
- The US Wonder Woman
- The Korean Housewife
- The Russian Teenager
- The Hong Kong Car Race Cheerleader
Priced at approximately $46 per day, the service functioned much like any other peer-to-peer sharing asset. Customers selected their model of choice through the app, had the doll delivered directly to their residence, and enjoyed a designated rental period. To alleviate potential sanitary concerns, the company instituted a rigorous hygiene protocol: upon return, the silicone figures underwent a deep cleaning process where the "lower parts" were systematically removed, sanitized, or replaced entirely. In fact, the platform’s modular design even allowed users to purchase and keep the lower half of the dolls while renting or swapping out the upper torsos.
Day Two: Public Outcry and Regulatory Alarm
Almost immediately upon launch, the service triggered a massive wave of online controversy. While urban netizens debated the bizarre intersection of the sharing economy and adult novelties, state regulators and law enforcement agencies took a much dimmer view. The timing could not have been worse for the company; the rollout coincided with a period of heightened political sensitivity and major preparatory meetings for the ruling Communist Party, during which online discourse and public morality are placed under intense state scrutiny.
Social media platforms like Weibo quickly filled with criticism, ranging from moral outrage to bewilderment over how such a service managed to bypass initial regulatory checks. Critics argued that the commercialization and mass distribution of life-size female mannequins for sexual use degraded women and violated public decency laws.
The Crackdown and Corporate Retreat
By September 16—just 48 hours after the service went live—police and municipal regulatory agencies swooped in. According to statements given by Touch spokesman Zheng Ying, authorities contacted company executives directly, labeling the rental model "vulgar" and issuing formal penalties.
Faced with mounting pressure, potential legal fallout, and the reality of operating as a publicly listed entity, Taqu leadership made the swift decision to pull the plug. The company wiped all references to the "Girlfriend Sharing" project from its app interface, halted all deliveries, and began issuing damage-control statements across digital channels.
Official Statements and Corporate Apologetics
The language used by Taqu throughout the crisis reflected a delicate balancing act: attempting to appease stern government regulators while maintaining its brand identity as a progressive champion of sexual wellness.
The Weibo Apology
In an official statement released via Weibo and translated by tech media outlets like Gizmodo, the company adopted a remarkably contrite tone, directly addressing the political timing of the controversy:
"Because our third-party marketing staff failed to comply with related regulations, certain promotion campaigns were suspended by regulatory agencies. Considering the widespread controversy, we decided to stop the project."
The statement continued with an explicit nod to the political sensitivities of the moment:
"We sincerely apologize for the negative impact caused by the project, especially its negative impact on online discourse at a time of major meetings… In the future, Touch will continue to put corporate social responsibility as a priority while actively exploring a healthy and harmonious sexual lifestyle."
Defending the Mission
Despite the capitulation to authorities, Taqu maintained its ideological stance regarding sexual health and liberation. The company defended the underlying ethos of the project, emphasizing that loneliness and physical intimacy are legitimate human struggles in the modern age.
"Ever since the project began, we’ve used the slogan ‘Shared girlfriend — your heartwarming companionship,’" the statement noted. "We hope to introduce expensive silicon sex dolls to the public, in order to provide love and companionship."
Concluding on a defiant yet philosophical note, the company asserted: "Sex itself is not vulgar. Making more Chinese people experience the pleasure of sex is still the goal we strive for."
In subsequent interviews with outlets like Motherboard, company representatives confirmed that while the rental branch was dead, the broader mission of the Taqu app would persist. "Because of the renting dolls, the police called us and said it’s vulgar, and give us a punishment," said spokesman Zheng Ying, confirming the 2,000-yuan ($340) fine. "After careful consideration, we decided to voluntarily shut down the lease of the doll business. Because our company is a listed company, we must be careful… But the Taqu app will go on. We will find a new way to popularize the sex interest culture… and we think everyone has [the] right to talk about sex."
Supporting Context & Metrics: The Crisis of Male Singledom in China
To fully understand why Taqu gambled on a sex doll-sharing service—and why the concept struck such a nerve—one must examine the profound demographic imbalances underpinning modern Chinese society.
The Demographic Imbalance
For decades, China’s social fabric has been shaped by the legacy of the "One-Child Policy" (enacted in the late 1970s and officially phased out in recent years). Combined with deeply ingrained cultural preferences for male heirs—which historically led to selective abortions, lower female infant survival rates, and skewed birth registries—the policy engineered a monumental gender gap.
According to the nation’s most recent comprehensive demographic surveys at the time, China’s population of approximately 1.38 billion people suffered from a severe structural deficit of women. The national sex ratio sat at approximately 1.18 men for every one woman.
The Rise of the "Bare Branches"
In Chinese sociology, unmarried men with little to no prospect of finding a traditional female partner are colloquially referred to as guanggun ("bare branches"). This demographic encompasses tens of millions of men—particularly within lower-income rural brackets and migrant urban workers—who are priced out of China’s hyper-competitive marriage market, where traditional expectations often require prospective grooms to own unencumbered real estate and provide substantial bride prices (caili).
It was precisely this vulnerable, lonely demographic that Taqu targeted in its earlier, unvarnished marketing campaigns. As promotional materials leaked prior to the crackdown boasted, high-end silicone dolls offered "perfect bodies, are totally submissive, and can meet the needs of the single home boy." The pitch concluded with a predatory yet alluring promise: "With one touch of a key, you are no longer single!"
This aggressive marketing strategy crossed the line from quirky tech innovation into exploitation in the eyes of state regulators, weaponizing the desperation of millions of lonely men for profit under the guise of "companionship."
Future Outlook: The Survival of Adult Tech in a Regulated Market
The rapid demise of the "Girlfriend Sharing" app serves as a case study in the friction between venture capitalism and state-enforced morality in China. While the Chinese sharing economy has birthed multi-billion-dollar empires, it operates within strict ideological boundaries defined by the Chinese Communist Party.
The Limits of "Sharing"
The sharing economy model relies on frictionless access, asset optimization, and public trust. Applying this model to intimate personal items like sex dolls crossed a cultural Rubicon. While the private ownership and use of sex toys and adult novelties have grown into a multi-billion-dollar e-commerce market in China, sharing them in a communal, public-facing manner triggered deep-seated fears regarding public hygiene, moral decay, and social degradation.
Pivot, Not Prohibition
Despite the swift punishment handed down to Taqu, the underlying economic and social drivers of the adult-tech sector remain stronger than ever. Companies catering to China’s lonely populace will not disappear; rather, they will adapt.
Future innovations in China’s adult entertainment and wellness space are likely to pivot away from shared physical rentals and toward private ownership, virtual reality (VR), and artificial intelligence (AI) companion software. By keeping products within the private sphere of the home—and avoiding the public visibility of a "sharing" network—tech entrepreneurs hope to bypass the heavy hand of state censorship while still servicing a market of millions of isolated consumers.
Conclusion
Taqu’s 48-hour experiment stands as a bizarre footnote in the annals of modern tech history—a moment where the absurdities of hyper-capitalism collided with the unyielding iron fist of state regulation. For now, the dream of timeshared, app-delivered silicone companions remains firmly suppressed, neutralized by a government determined to police the boundaries of public morality in an era of profound demographic anxiety.
