Divorce rising in China

The number of marriages in China which end in divorce is increasing, according to new research.

A report by the Chinese Ministry of Civil Affairs has revealed that there were 1.9 million divorces in 2006, 128,000 more than the previous year. This equates to a seven per cent increase, and is triple the divorce rate of 1985.

The provinces of Sichuan Henan Shandong, Liaoning and Jiangsu each had over 100,000 divorce cases each. Overall, the figures reveal that for every 1,000 married people in China in 2006 there were 1.46 divorces, up from 1.37 in 2005, the official Xinhua news agency reports.

Xinhau suggests that divorce has increased in China because the procedure has been simplified, as couples no longer have to notify their employers and wait for them to say whether or not they think their plans are suitable.

Despite the rise in divorce, the report also notes that the number of marriages increased in 2006 by 1.2 million to reach 9.45 million, a rise of 15 per cent.