People’s Daily reported that the Ministry of Civil Affairs released statistics showing that 3.6 million couples in China filed for divorce in 2014. The statistics indicated that the growth had been continuous since 2003. Beijing and Shanghai continued to have the highest number of divorces. The article said that the divorce rate jumped in 2011 after the Supreme Court introduced a new marriage law that simplified the divorce process and made it easier to divide the assets. Due to the revision in the tax law on sale of the real estate property, the year 2013 also saw an increase in the divorce rate. The article attributed the increase in the divorce rate in 2014 to the fast pace of life, the change in social values, as well as to social media. The statistics showed that over 50 percent of divorces were the result of extramarital affairs.
Source: People’s Daily, July 5, 2015
http://tc.people.com.cn/n/2015/0705/c183008-27255460.html