Quoting statistics of a recent survey conducted by the Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences, the paper said the divorce rate in Shanghai has risen from 0.027 percent in the late 1970s to 0.486 percent of last year, 2.5 percent times of the country's average.

More than 40 percent of the divorced couples surveyed admitted their spouses had other sexual partners, which they said directly caused the divorce.

Xu Anqi, a marriage consultant who led the survey team, noted that Shanghai is still "a conservative city" in terms of sex and marriage.

Though it has witnessed dramatic economic achievement during the past few decades and posits itself as an open, modern and fashionable metropolis, most Shanghainese have stuck to their traditional marital ethics and strongly oppose extramarital affairs, Xu said.

Another survey by Xu's team, conducted among 1,000 local residents, showed that only five percent "accept or understand" extramarital sexual relations while 75 percent are "definitely against" such partnerships.

Xu said affairs outside marriage have been continuously increasing in Shanghai because of various social reasons, but thatdetailed statistics are difficult to collect.

Fortunately, Shanghai couples, especially husbands, still respect gentle temperaments, the survey showed. Only two percent of the 1,000 survey said they were frequently on the receiving endof their spouse's wrath.

"Generally speaking, domestic violence is a rarity in local families," said Xu, adding that the rate was possibly the lowest among major Chinese cities.

A similar survey in Beijing found that 4 percent of couples endure a violent relationship.

(People's Daily November 24, 2002)