The number of registered divorces in China plummeted by some 50% in the first half of 2021, following the introduction of a new cooling-off period policy at the beginning of the year, official data showed.
Only 966,000 couples registered for a divorce in the first six months, according to statistics released by China’s Ministry of Civil Affairs.
The number was 2.03 million in the same period of 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic; the data for the first half of 2020 has not yet been released.
Populous provinces Henan, Sichuan, Jiangsu, and Shandong ranked highest in terms of divorce numbers. In Henan, more than 70,000 couples registered for divorce in the first six months.
The cooling-off period policy came into effect from January 1. It requires couples to wait a month after reaching a settlement and then go together to collect their divorce certificates. This is a key element that has led to the drop in divorces, media outlet Yicai quoted demographer Dong Yuzheng as saying on Thursday.
The population of marriageable age has declined in recent years, which also to some extent caused the decrease in divorces, Dong said.
