DIVORCE MODERNIZATION in the People’s Republic of China. “Since August 13th, when China’s Supreme People’s Court reinterpreted the country’s marriage law, many of the women leaving marriage registry offices like the one in Chaoyang have more than just the end of their marriages to bemoan. According to the new law, residential property is no longer to be regarded as jointly owned and divided equally in the event of a divorce. Instead, whoever paid for the apartment or house is the legal owner and gets to keep it in its entirety.”