Paternity tests rise in Shanghai

Cases involving paternity tests rose 214 percent last year in Shanghai, a report from the city's Pudong New Area People's Court showed, with many disputes involving children born out of wedlock.

In 2010, there were only seven cases of disputed parentage, but that number rose to 22 in 2011, the court figures show.

Paternity tests were first offered to individuals in 2005. In August 2011, the Supreme People's Court ruled in the new interpretation of China's Marriage Law that if a spouse can provide the necessary evidence to prove or disprove a biological parent-child relationship, and the other side cannot supply any counter-evidence, the court could decide in favor of the complainant.