Altogether 20,225 local couples negotiated divorces from January to September this year, a 30 percent increase from the same period last year, according to the local civil affairs bureau.

Meanwhile, more than 11,000 local couples terminated their marriages in court. About 90,000 new couples tied the knot in the first nine months of the year, which means that on average for every three new couples saying their vows, one old couple will break up.

To stop family splits resulting from mere hotheadedness, the local marriage management authority has begun to deliver a notice to all couples who file for divorce.

The notice, which it began to send out last month, reminds the couples of all their rights and duties regarding divorce, telling them that they will no longer be husband and wife as soon as they register for divorce, and they should make clear on the divorce agreement the partition of belongings, estates, debts, as well as children.

"We try to ask the couples to calm down, spend more time rejudging their marital relations and reconsider the correctness of their decision," said Zhou Jixiang of the civil affairs bureau.

He said divorce registerers also make efforts to sew up fissures, trying to find out the causes of divorce, judge the possibility of restoration, and offer suggestions. Last year, the proportion of marriage to divorce was about seven to one, with 14,294 couples filing for divorce.

Simplified marriage registration regulations that went into effect last year is one major reason for the sharp increase in divorces this year, Zhou said. In the past, couples had to wait at least one month for their divorce agreement, but now, the procedures take 10 minutes.

"Ephemeral marriages lasting half a year, one month or even one week are no longer regarded as peculiar," he said.  

(Shanghai Daily December 16, 2004)