. in china, divorce rates have been rising for 12 consecutive years. in 2014, 3.63 million couples got divorced, roughly triple the number recorded ten years earlier.

many of the divorcies from the one child policy generation. experts say the causes of many recent divorces include women's financial independent and being able to establish relations with people. one law firm has been specializing in divorce cases for the past 20 years or so. >> many young couples immediately seek divorce without trying to reconcile. meanwhile, there are other

marriage related issues in china. an increasing number of men can't find spouses, while women, choose not to get married. affluent chinese have new views on relationships. this episode studies how young chinese are redefining happiness and china's one child policy aimed at controlling the nation's population growth was abolished in january 2016. but the 35 years of implementing the policy created a gender imbalance. according to the chinese government, the ratio of unwed men and women stands at 206 to

100, among those born in the '70s. experts estimate that by 2020, some 30 million men won't be able to find a spouse. to tackle this problem, matchmaking sites and courses on love and romance are increasing online. the most popular site by far among single men is huiananhi, which offers instructions on dating and

>> huiananhi provides thorough training to men who don't have girlfriends. courses cover everything from fashion coordination to studying the female psyche and more. paying members can sample all the courses provided. huiananhi is run by may doing lee, a start up to help young men having difficulty finding potential wives. currently, the firm choirarges online and face-to-face courses, and has $8.1 million in annual sales.

may doing lee has a tech division in addition to managing websites. the average age of the 110 employees is 27 years old. on chow yaw is one of the -- she met back packing all over china after graduating from high school. when the company was launched, the main theme was to make chinese men more

>> almost everyday, new programs are uploaded to who i now hi, to something is always being fimmed within the studio in the office.

>> the programs feature real live stories and questions from members. 20 instructors help solve their problems. yaw is the most popular teacher. he is known for his empathetic and kind advice.

the instructor's day begins by replying to the countless emails. on busy days, they get about inquiries. on this day, two of yao's students came to study. huiananhi offers online courses and so-called tran firm mation courses, the lon longest course, 250 days of support, is priced at $500 u.s. these two members signed up because they weren't able to find partners on their own in

beijing. this course was taught by a non-chinese instructor. yao went along to offer moral support. >> course content ranges from the theoretical, dating tips an

rules to practice gs conversation and approaching women the first time. >> the gender imbalance is problematic. in rural areas, there are far more men than women. in metropolitan areas, the opposite trend is even. women outnumber men 4 to 1. some factors behind this imbalance are women prioritizing their careers and women getting married to obtain official beijing residency.

this isa's largest matchmaking agency, located in central beijing. more than 90 million people are registered with baihe, which was founded in 2 005. it handles more than 1 cases a year. >> despite the high cost, roughly $1,700, people continue to sign up. since it's founding, this company has launch add i research division and announcing changes in china's plight concerning marriage.

he serves as the research division and works as a commentator on tv or

>> for around the past ten years there have been many places called arranged marriage squares in beijing. parents of marriage age children for proof to arrange marriages. at one time, these exchanges were banned in several locations after cases of fraud became prevalent. but some exchanges still

most of the profiles lined up on the street are of women. the majority apparently came to beijing for university and found jobs here. they don't care about marriage, or even try to find parteners according to their parents.

>> in china, the best age for women to get married is considered to be 25 to 30. in rural areas, women are expected to mary one woman came to beijing for university and has been working here since. she shares an apartment with two men to save she and her roommates pay a

total of $1,200 for the three-bedroom apartment they share. it takes an hour by bus to her office. but she can't afford the high rent in areas closer to work. shau was raised in the province and always wanted to live in a big city. she insists on staying in beijing.

she works at an online auction house, specialize anything jewelry. she is supposed to get two days off a week, but ends up working extra days. she often leaves home at 9:00 a.m. and returns after 11:00 p.m. her roommates both work in design. they also work long hours. and are rarely

>> he works at a company in

of b b bay jig's biggest district. built it from a small firm from a few employees to 20. president lee young was senior staff at a company who previously worked at, when lee decided to launch his own company, who resolved to help. now, she is in charge of developing sales strategies based on client data. in addition, she is studying jewelry in her free time to search for new business opportunities. who is indispensable to her company.

during college, because their lives went separate ways since

they gan working. since then, she has bon focusing solely on work. on this day, hu continued as usual. working until late at night. in the beautifully lit city, many couples enjoy the christmas

decorations. this was a rare day off for hu. she was online, searching for information on an event she was invited to.

eight minute date something a popular method among young people for finding potential spouses. on the day of the event, hu went to a café near the square. admission was 20 us dollars per person. everyone found out about the event online. during the event, people change seats every eight minutes. regardless of how the conversations go, it ends when the person talks to everyone of the opposite gender. this practical and simple system has become so popular that an

eight minute dating event is held every weekend someplace in the city. six men and six women gathered on this day, so the event ended just 50 minutes after the conversations began. each participant will decide whether to exchange contact information and meet up or

the following day, the website for men, huiananhi held a practice class on how to actually talk to women.

the instructor first supports his student by walking side by side, pretending to be a friend. but the student just walked around and didn't talk to anyone. he tried to encourage him. but he came back right even when urged on again, he returned again without approaching any women. in the end, he failed to talk to anyone.

he'll have to try harder in the future. china's only children, a generation born under a policy of population control during the country's rapid ascent to prosperity. the more they pursue their own interests, the more they're labeled selfish and short temper tempered. despite their he have efforts to overcome the stereotype, it may be only for children, marriage is a more challenging issue than we realize.

welcome to "newsline." it is thursday, march 10. i'm catherine kobayashi in tokyo. early thursday, according to south co south conortheastern direction. south korea media say it traveled 500 kilometers. on heightened alert. currently in the middle of annual joint training drills with the u.s., largest ever. the exercises started monday and are heavily criticized by north korea. last