Chinese men don't mind playing second fiddle

True love is giving, not taking.

That philosophy is increasingly gaining support among Chinese men, 47.33 percent of whom said they would continue trying to please their dream lovers even though the gesture is unlikely to be reciprocated.

Meanwhile, 83.99 percent of women opposed the idea of becoming the minor partner in a relationship in a survey by zhenai.com, one of China's leading dating sites.

A total 16.5 percent of respondents said they could accept a relationship in which the female is older than male with 8.77 percent of men not minding an age gap as wide as 10 years.

The survey also found high incomes to be an important parameter for women when selecting a partner. While 72.38 percent of women expect future husbands to earn twice as much as them only 17.13 percent said they would date men with roughly the same incomes as themselves.

As Chinese New Year approaches, the survey also revealed that those parents planning to use the family reunion as a chance to force their children into marriage are likely to fail, with 56.84 percent of females saying they won't rush into a relationship due to family or peer pressure or marry for the sake of it. The sentiment was also supported by 47.19 percent of men.