Counselors on the rise as couples decide whether to stay or part

As more couples and individuals seek professional help with marriage problems - and with counseling even required in some regions before a couple can divorce - marriage counselors have gained stature in China.

Shu Xin, director of the Weiqing Group, a Shanghai-based agency that provides marriage counseling services in more than 40 cities, said the agency gets around 200 cases per day of people seeking advice, compared with 10 cases in 2001, when the agency was first set up.

Entrepreneurs born in the 1980s and 1990s have also joined the market to provide solutions to relationship issues through online platforms or smartphone applications, said Sun Shijin, director of Fudan University's psychological research center.