2006 saw around 1.9 million Chinese couples separate, a seven
percent increase or 128,000 couples than the year before, reported
the Ministry of Civil Affairs.
Civil affairs bureaus nationwide handled 1.29 million divorces
last year while another 622,000 divorces were fielded through the
courts, the report said.
Five provinces in particular proved ill for wedded bliss with Liaoning, Jiangsu, Shandong, Henan and Sichuan each reporting over 100,000 divorce
cases in 2006.
However, the number of couples getting married also increased
with 9.45 million marriages celebrated nationwide, up 1.2 million
year-on-year, according to the report.
Although divorce is traditionally discouraged in China, the last
two decades have seen divorce rates soar as women become more
independent and divorce procedures are lightened.
Unlike most western countries which track the precise number of
marriages that end in divorce, the Ministry of Civil Affairs
chooses to release statistics based on the number of divorced
couples per 1,000 people. This figure saw a small rise to 1.46,
from 1.37 a year earlier. ?
(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2007)