Web site harnesses China's culture of connections

BEIJING (Reuters) - Those elusive connections that in China can ensure personal or business gain are just a click away thanks to a new Web site, state media said on Thursday.

China is known for its millennium-old business culture centered on "guanxi", or connections, the bulk of which these days are nurtured through agreements reached via cash-stuffed envelopes at dinner tables or on the golf course.

"Since its founding in March, Zhike.com has been seeking out the kind of connections that can help people enroll a child in the right primary school, get help from the government with business and even meet a celebrity - for a price," the China Daily said.

Ten requests recently posted were "looking for friends in government". Three were from parents who wanted to be connected to teachers at kindergartens or primary schools.

One person who used the Web name "love 5433" said he had just moved to Shanghai, wanted his child to go to a good kindergarten and would offer 1,000 yuan ($130) to whoever could help.

"Lawyers said the Web site would be held responsible if its services led to bribery," the newspaper said.

"Officials with the Shanghai industrial and commercial administrative bureau said they would keep an eye on it."