"Through the guidance of the questions, couples can reminisce on the moments of their relationship and reflect on their familial roles and responsibilities," Liu, who oversees Lianyungang's civil marriage registry, told the newspaper.

Attempts to reach officials in Lianyungang were unsuccessful. Workers in Liu's office refused to say whether the quizzes were still being given.

Nearly 2 million Chinese couples divorced in the first half of 2017, an 11 per cent increase from the year before, according to state news media. About 3 per cent of all married couples sought a divorce last year, up from fewer than 1 per cent in 2002, according to iFeng, a state-owned news channel citing the Ministry of Civic Affairs.

Liu said the quizzes were meant only to be a starting point, not the deciding factor in whether a couple could split up. But at least one couple's high score resulted in the authorities' preventing their divorce in another province last year.

A court in Yibin, a small city in Sichuan province, refused to grant the couple a divorce in September after citing their stellar test scores, according to local news outlets.

More than 70 per cent of divorces filed in China last year were initiated by women, The South China Morning Post reported, citing the Supreme People's Court. In most filings, incompatibility was given as the major reason; 15 per cent cited domestic violence.

However, a smaller number of divorces appear to be shams resulting from a quirk in Chinese real estate law. Some cities limit the number of properties a married couple can own. By legally divorcing, a couple can buy more real estate in some of the world's most expensive cities.

Experts said the state's focus on preventing divorce stems from a Confucian belief that a stable society is made up of complete families.

"Only through thousands of harmonious family units can an entire society achieve harmony," said Liu, the Lianyungang official.

The Chinese government has regulated many aspects of private family life, including religion and pregnancy.

"Marriage and family are seen as a stabilising force, and the government wants to keep men and women in marriages," said Leta Hong Fincher, author of Betraying Big Brother: The Feminist Awakening in China.

Chinese internet users were quick to criticise the divorce quizzes after a copy of a Lianyungang test was posted on Weibo, the popular microblogging site, by the city's Civic Affairs Bureau.

"So if you remember your wedding anniversary you can't divorce?" one commenter wrote. "Divorce isn't a case of amnesia."

"They are adults and they have the right to divorce," another Weibo user wrote. "Isn't this an interference in domestic affairs?"

Officials in Lianyungang have pushed back against the criticism, saying that taking the quiz was voluntary.

"The main objective is to let the couple consider this rationally and to treat it seriously," the bureau said on Weibo in response to the most popular online comments.

New York Times