Nearly 25,000 Beijing couples registered for divorce last year, almost a third of them had been married less than five years.

The number of people registering for divorce increased four percent over 2005, according to Beijing Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau.

More than 5,000 couples were married less than three years and some marriages lasted only two days, said Li Ziwei, the director of marriage administration under the civil affairs bureau.

Young people are more willing to end an unhappy marriage, as they are not bound by traditional rules, marriage experts said.

The public's attitude towards divorce is also becoming more tolerant, Li said.

The Ministry of Civil Affairs reported that across the country 1.785 million couples divorced in 2005.

(Xinhua News Agency March 1, 2007)