August 21, 2025
BEIJING – When entrepreneur Guo Jia’s marriage ended in 2021, she took to Chinese social media to share how she navigated the ups and downs of life as a divorcee and single mother.
“From day one, I decided I would be open about my divorce because there is no shame. Divorce is something I went through, not something I’m to blame for,” the 40-year-old Beijing native, who has an eight-year-old son, told The Straits Times.
Her candid social media posts about navigating life after divorce struck a chord with women facing similar struggles.
By May 2024, she had channelled that momentum into founding Mei Club, a women-only network in Beijing offering legal advice, parenting support for single mothers and emotional mentorship.
Ms Guo’s journey is part of a broader shift in China, where divorce is no longer whispered with disapproval and more women now speak openly about their break-ups, reframing them as fresh starts.
In traditional Chinese culture, the family was seen as the bedrock of society under the authority of the father. Divorce was often regarded as a disgrace, with women labelled selfish or failures for leaving their families, while men could remarry with far less social penalty.
The change comes as official figures released on July 30 show the divorce rate rising faster than the marriage rate in the first half of 2025, compared with the same period in 2024. In the first six months of 2025, 1.331 million couples registered for divorce, up by 4.5 per cent from 2024, while 3.539 million couples registered for marriage, up by 3.2 per cent from 2024, according to data from China’s Civil Affairs Ministry.
The ministry tallies only uncontested divorces registered at civil affairs offices, while cases settled in court are not included – meaning the real number is likely much higher.
The marriage rate has traditionally outpaced the divorce rate, but as China modernised, the number of divorces has gone up while marriages have come down over the last two decades, with the gap closing fast in recent years – a trend sociologists say is here to stay.
In recent years, a number of high-profile divorce stories have made waves in China, resonating widely with women across the country and sparking discussion about marriage, divorce, independence and self-worth.
In July, a woman in her 50s from rural Shandong province became a national sensation in the stand-up comedy scene after she humorously detailed the domestic violence she endured in her 30-year arranged marriage and her parents’ opposition to her divorce.
On social media, netizens said Director Fang – as the housewife-turned-comedian is known on stage – first made them laugh before moving them to tears with her raw and authentic storytelling. Demand for her sold-out shows is so high that scalpers are selling the standard 80-yuan (S$14) tickets for up to 1,000 yuan.
In August 2024, netizens cheered 60-year-old Su Min from Zhengzhou city in Henan province after she officially began divorce proceedings, ending her 38-year marriage.
Known online as the “self-driving auntie”, Ms Su had gained fame documenting her solo road trip across China, which she embarked on in 2020 to escape her unhappy marriage and challenge the traditional expectation that women should shoulder family responsibilities.
Her story inspired the film Like A Rolling Stone, which was released in September 2024.
Later that year, the fourth season of the reality TV series See You Again – featuring three couples contemplating divorce – became wildly popular. It sparked more than 100 divorce- and marriage-related trending topics on Chinese social media platform Weibo during its run, with two of the three couples ultimately ending their marriages.
The popularity of such stories reflects a society where rapid modernisation, rising individualism and changing gender norms are chipping away at the taboo around divorce, analysts said.
Dr Zhao Litao, a senior research fellow at the National University of Singapore’s East Asian Institute, said large-scale migration, urbanisation and economic mobility have weakened traditional norms, allowing people to focus more on quality of life rather than simply staying married.
This follows a societal shift that other East Asian societies, such as Japan and South Korea, went through earlier, he noted.
“Divorce has become less of a taboo, especially in big cities. Public discussions, popular media and even reality shows are making it easier to talk about marital dissatisfaction,” Dr Zhao said.
Associate Professor Pan Wang, who specialises in Chinese and Asian studies at the University of New South Wales in Australia, said that for many women, openly talking about their divorces on social media is an act of self-empowerment and a way to build supportive networks creating a sense of “sisterhood”.
“It can also be a sign of feminist awakening or even a feminist pushback against the old idea that divorce is shameful,” she said.
In contrast, fewer men go public with their divorces, often to avoid “washing their dirty laundry” in public, she added.
Among the rare few who do is a single dad from Guangdong province who goes by the online handle Seven. He posts openly about his divorce and raising his daughter on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu.
“I don’t really care that I’m among the minority of men who do this or what people say about me. To me, I’m just recording my life with my daughter and showing that it’s possible to live a fulfilling, happy life after divorce,” he said.
Dr Zhao said financial independence is a major reason why women, especially those in big cities, are more open to discussing divorce than men. “Having financial independence gives women more freedom to leave unhappy marriages and to speak about them without fear of complete social or economic ruin,” he said.
The growing openness with which Chinese women discuss divorce stands in contrast to Chinese government policies, which are aimed at building a “family-friendly society”.
With the population declining for the third consecutive year and the number of marriages plunging, policymakers are pulling out all the stops to encourage young couples to get hitched and have children. Recent pro-birth measures include cash subsidies and free pre-school education nationwide.
Since 2021, couples seeking a divorce must undergo a 30-day cooling-off period, during which, if either party is unwilling to proceed with the divorce, they may withdraw the application, thereby terminating the divorce registration process.
The authorities said the move was to reduce impulsive divorces. Before the implementation of the cooling-off period, couples who had their paperwork in order could usually receive their divorce certificate on the same day.
At the same time, the authorities have moved to make marriage registration easier. Since May, couples no longer need to present their hukou (or household registration) booklet and can register at any registry office in China. In the past, they had to register at an office in the household registration location of one of the couple.
The state has also signalled some discomfort with how divorce is portrayed in popular culture. Days after stand-up comedian Director Fang’s segment about her divorce went viral, Zhejiang province’s propaganda department cautioned against talk shows using material that could deepen gender divides, without naming specific performers.
Prof Wang said there is a “growing discrepancy” between the Chinese government’s view of family ideals and the perspective at the individual level.
“The government perceives harmony in marriage as key to social stability, and this principle shapes the courts’ decisions on divorce, while for the individual, emotional connection and satisfaction have become pivotal,” she said.
The growing openness about discussing divorce has also brought pushback for some women.
A “divorce blogger” on Chinese social media platform Xiaohongshu, who asked to be identified only as Lynn, told ST that she initially posted about moving out and living alone after her divorce.
“But I found that just simply talking about post-divorce life didn’t encourage others, so I started talking about the divorce itself and the messiness of it,” she said.
Her candour has drawn a fair share of nasty comments, mostly from men.
“They think women who publicly talk about their divorce have no sense of shame. Women are more empathetic. I sometimes get heartfelt thank-you messages from women who say they have been encouraged by my story,” she said.
“The first time I experienced online harassment, I blocked all comments and private messages and stopped posting for a while, but I eventually got used to it,” she added.
For Ms Guo, who previously worked in human resources, Mei Club has grown beyond being a support circle. What began as a personal project is now a full-fledged business with 60 employees.
“In a big city like Beijing, it’s easy to feel alone,” she said. “What we offer is real support, not a superficial ‘ladies club’, but genuine emotional and practical help so we can show our children that we can be independent and happy.”