Su Xin, chairman of Shanghai Weiqing struck a similar note.

"By the end of 2006, our company had helped more than 2,700 couples reconcile and 300 divorce peacefully," Su said.

Weiqing charges by the hour 200 yuan ($24.6) per hour for an assessment, and 300 yuan ($37) for legal aid in cases involving divorce proceedings.

Su started the company in March 2004, and its annual revenue increased fourfold last year compared to the previous year, Su told the Hangzhou-based Today Morning Post.

Franchised outlets have opened in many big cities across the country in the years since the company's launch. Li opened the Hangzhou branch after undergoing a year's worth of training as a psychologist in Shanghai. She also paid the company over 100,000 yuan ($12,300) in franchising fees.

Divorce is common

"Divorce is now as common as marriage," Su said. "That's why our business has flourished."

According to statistics released recently by Shanghai Municipal Civil Affairs Bureau, last year was a big year for divorce, with more than 37,000 couples, about 22 percent more, separating. The number of divorced people younger than 35 in Hangzhou increased by 30 percent in 2005 compared with the previous year.

Liu Yong, a university teacher in Shanghai, entrusted his divorce to a specialist company.

"Sometimes people are more apt to expose their inner thoughts to a stranger than to friends and relatives," he said.

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