“I always say that Chinese marriage counselling is mostly like treating late-stage cancer, ” said Zhu, explaining that the majority of his clients arrive in “absolute crisis”. After decades of the “one-child policy”, China faces a stark gender imbalance with 30 million more men than women. State-organised counsellingLawmakers last year introduced a mandatory 30-day cooling-off period for divorce by agreement, which previously could be settled within a day. “The ‘divorce cooling-off period’ has become a ‘divorce abuse period’, which completely deviates from its original purpose, ” said Guangzhou marriage lawyer Wang Youbai. But more Chinese women are also refusing to cave in, with marriage registrations last year falling to their lowest level in nearly two decades.

Source: The Star May 06, 2021 07:00 UTC