A group of six university students in Guangzhou have designed a detachable G-string shaped condom that they claim will help prevent unwanted pregnancies and the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. They have registered as a business and are applying for a patent, Yangcheng Evening News reports.

Below is a diagram with a key.

Led by 20 year-old Kong Yanxiang, the group of five girls and one boy from South China Medical University have established a team that calls itself “东方雄起” which translates as something like “Eastern Resurgence.” They call their product “The Guardian of Love” and are seeking investment to get their business off the ground.

“Currently, sex education in China is quite backward and conservative. Condoms are a product into which little research is being done. So this is a market we could enter,” Kong Yanxiang told the paper.

According to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, 15 billion condoms are produced around the world each year. Around 750 million people use them every year. The invention is some 400 years old but there has been little innovation of the product in the past 50 years. This year, the foundation announced it would offer US$100,000 in start-up funds to “whoever designs the next generation of condoms.”

The group says that traditional condoms mostly use oil-based lubricants which can be bad for the vagina. The g-string condom uses a soluble lubricant flavoured with Chinese herbs. The anti-slip micro-capsules reduce the risk of accidental pregnancy.

However, in terms of learning about the manufacturing process, Kong says the business still has a long way to go.

h/t Hug China.