Increasing numbers show couples' changing attitudes toward splitting-up

A quarter of divorce cases in Chongwen district involves couples aged 30 or under, a court report stated.

It also noted that this group has been doubling annually over the past five years, showing a changing public attitude toward marriage.

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These statistics come from a report of 360 divorce cases handled at Chongwen district in 2009. It said more than half the divorces were marriages that hadn't lasted three years.

The report, which was made public on the municipal court's website, noted that around 97 percent of divorcees had grown up without siblings.

According to statistics from the Beijing civil affairs bureau, almost 25,000 couples divorced in 2008. One-third had been married for less than five years, the Beijing Evening News reported.

The bureau went further to reveal that 970 couples divorced after one year of marriage, and 52 lasted only one month.

"Most couples that come for marriage counseling are between 25 and 35 years of age," said Ding Li, a marriage counselor who has been giving advice for five years.

"I believe that their problems are the same as with older couples. They are just more spontaneous and open," she said.

Ding said young couples have a strong sense of self-awareness and are active in resolving their problems.

However, she admitted that some couples act too spontaneously.

"Flash marriages are popular for this generation of people," she said. "Some of them are under great pressure from their parents, who still hold the belief that marriage should take place before 30."

Tang Xiangyang a 25-year-old woman who got married in November last year, said one of her friends had a flash marriage in 2007.

"She married a man two months after they met. They still get on very well," she said.

Li Qilai, a lawyer who has been handling marriage cases for 18 years, said more than half of the divorce cases he handled related to couples in their forties.

"Marriage problems are not limited to any specific group," he said.

"The reasons for divorce are complicated. Both husbands and wives should improve their tolerance levels so as to contribute to a long-term marriage," said Li.

Statistics from the National Knowledge Infrastructure - a database that logs statistics from various public agencies - said 118,000 couples married in Beijing in 2007. There were 37,000 divorces in the same year.