Jiangsu Province's first marriage guidance clinic has opened in Suzhou, providing hope to the growing number of couples experiencing relationship problems.

Zhenghua Marriage Evaluation and Consultation Company, which opened last week, was founded by Zheng Hua, a woman in her 40s who worked for the city government resolving community disputes for 12 years.

According to Zheng, her clinic provides services including evaluating marriage quality, detecting and analyzing marriage problems, and helping clients determine whether or not to continue the marriage.

And if both sides reach agreement on divorce, Zheng will also provide legal consultation and help her clients prepare for court.

Although she did not reveal her exact charges, Zheng said that her service was much cheaper than law firms that offer divorce.

About 40 customers have visited Zheng's clinic so far, but only 20 per cent of them decided to divorce after consultation.

"Most marriages can be healed if both people are willing to try their best. Instead of harshly ending a marriage, I always recommend that the couple first find out the problems and see whether they are reconcilable," said Zheng.

Zheng currently has two employers to handle reception duties and paperwork in the agency.

It has been reported that similar marriage clinics have been set up in other big cities across the country, including Beijing and Dalian.

According to Zhu Aihua, a professor of sociology at Suzhou Science and Technology Institute, the emergence of such clinics reflects the demand for this sort of service.

"Changes in life value, huge pressure and the various temptations such as one night stands all pose great challenges to a stable marriage," he said.

According to statistics from the Suzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, the divorce rate in the city has jumped from 10.6 per cent in 2003 to 16.4 per cent in 2005, rising 3 per cent year-on-year.

Critics of the company have targeted Zheng Hua herself. While she claims to be fully capable of marriage guidance and evaluation given her dozen years of work experience, she lacks any formal legal or academic qualifications.

"For an agency providing services mentioned by Zheng, it needs professional people who are well educated in legal and psychological fields. Otherwise, how can they provide the right service to their clients?" questioned Liu Zhengcao, a lawyer with Nanjing-based Contemporary Security Law firm.

Liu added that prices should be regulated, as marriage guidance is a new industry.

An official from the local women's federation said that they had not heard about Zheng's clinic, but they will visit soon to see if they can cooperate in healing family problems.

(China Daily July 24, 2006)