With China expected to overtake the US in online spending this year, university graduates have found success by abandoning traditional career paths to start internet sex-toy companies.

When Chris Wu was studying abroad at the University of Leeds, she said she loved to go to high-end sex-toy shops to admire the “beautiful” products. After she returned to Beijing with a master’s degree in public relations, she was disappointed that sex shops at home sold “low quality products that lacked design”.

“That was when I first wanted to start my own sex-toy shop,” the 33-year-old said. “But I felt I needed more experience, so I worked at a PR company for five years and then started the business three years ago.”

Wu now employs six staff, and her online store has been profitable for the last year-and-a-half. Her sleekly designed homepage proclaims that TOIs Intimacy Boutique was “established with the conviction that sensual pleasure and fulfilment are paramount to a well-lived life”.

Another young entrepreneur, Li Chengze, decided to start his online sex shop, called Xiao Ye, after working in the advertising industry for a year and seeing the potential of the online sex-toy market.

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