People in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang province, are marrying later, according to statistics made public by the Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau through its WeChat account on Tuesday.

The average age for marriage in Hangzhou last year was 33.1 for men and 31.0 for women, up from 31.8 for men and 29.7 for women in 2016.

The age of first marriage also is rising for both genders, with men at 28.6 years old and women at 27.1, compared to 28.5 and 26.7, respectively, in 2016.

The statistics, complied from a total of 65,633 couples who registered their marriages in the city, which has a population of over 9 million residents, also saw an increasing divorce rate last year. A total of 24,740 couples filed for divorce, up 17.6 percent from the year before.

Chen Jun, an official with Hangzhou Civil Affairs Bureau, said that the increasing rate is due to “an improved divorce system, a changing concept towards marriage and more economic independence for women.”

Chen also added that couples now have a higher expectation of marriage quality, and divorce may become the most effective solution to disagreements or other post-marriage conflicts.

While the number of divorces is rising, there also is an increasing number of divorced couples who choose to re-enter a restored marriage. The growth rate was 21.9 percent in 2017, the highest in the past four years.

Zhang Yangfei contributed to this story.