Under the Civil Code, couples will have a 30-day cooling-off period after handing their divorce application to the civil affairs department. [Photo/VCG]

The new "cooling-off" period before divorce proceedings are finalized can only be applied in cases when couples agree to divorce, and is not to be used in cases involving domestic violence, Yang Zongtao, a senior official of the Ministry of Civil Affairs' social affairs department, said at a news briefing on Dec. 11.

民政部社会事务司高级官员杨宗涛在12月11日举行的通气会上表示，新设的离婚“冷静期”只适用于双方协议离婚案件，不适用于涉及家庭暴力的案件。

Under the Civil Code, which comes into effect on Jan 1, couples will have a 30-day cooling-off period after handing their divorce application to the civil affairs department. During the period, either party can withdraw the application.

根据将于明年1月1日生效的《民法典》，夫妻在向民政部门提交离婚申请后，将有30天的“冷静期”。在此期间，任何一方均可撤回申请。

After 30 days, if both parties still insist on divorce, they should proceed to the civil affairs department in person and ask for the issuance of their divorce certificates. Otherwise, they will be treated as having withdrawn the application.

30天后，如双方仍坚持离婚，应亲自到民政部门申请办理离婚证；否则，将被视为撤回申请。

This has sparked heated debate among Chinese internet users, with some airing their worries that the new rule will prolong the process and add to the difficulty for people aspiring to end a terrible marriage.

这一条款在中国网民中引发了热烈的讨论。一些人担心，新规定将延长离婚过程，还会给那些希望结束一段糟糕婚姻的人增加难度。

Some people expressed their concerns about getting married. On Weibo, a Chinese micro-blogging platform, comments like "We also need a cooling-off period before entering marriage, considering that it might be difficult to exit" have received many likes.

还有一些人表达了对结婚的担忧。在微博上，诸如“考虑到退出可能很难，我们在婚前也需要一段冷静期”的评论收获了许多点赞。

The divorce rate in China has been on the rise since the turn of the century, reaching 3.2 divorces for every 1,000 inhabitants in 2018. 

自世纪之交以来，中国的离婚率持续上升，到2018年，每1000名居民中就有3.2人离婚。

Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show that in 2019, some 9.47 million couples got hitched while 4.15 million couples parted ways. 

民政部的数据显示，2019年，有约947万对夫妇结婚，415万对夫妇分手。

tie the knot  结婚

flash marriage  闪婚

shotgun marriage  奉子成亲

prenuptial agreement  婚前协议

domestic violence  家庭暴力

Collected and edited by Lv Yun

Source: China Daily, CGTN

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