Caption: The charter, released by China's Ministry of Civil Affairs, shows the number of both married couples and divorced couples in Beijing between 2010 and 2014. The number of divorces in China has increased steadily from 2003 to 2014. [Photo: The Beijing News]

The divorce rate in China has been steadily rising for 12 years since 2003, and experts say engaging in social media is largely responsible for the increase, West China Metropolis Daily reported on July 5, 2015.

Lu Mingsheng, an expert on marriage and family law research at China Law Society, says more than 50 percent of divorce cases that result in extramarital affairs are compromised because of China's social networks such as Wechat and Momo.

Lu adds that others factors, such as the simplification of divorce process in China's Marriage Law and declined mutual trust between couples, are also causing rising divorce rates in China.

Statistics from China's Ministry of Civil Affairs show that 3.6 million couples in China divorced in 2014, compared to 2.7 million in 2010. Beijing and Shanghai have the highest number of divorces nationwide, with around 54,000 and 60,000 in 2013, respectively.